COGER'S CORNER
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Happy first day of Spring Break everyone. The arrival of Spring Break means different things to different members of our ECU community, but for me it is a reminder that less than two months remain before Spring 2023 commencement. This reality led me to consider some of the things outside of normal operations affecting our University community. Of those, I thought I’d focus today on two of them: Strategic Planning and concerns about change, and particularly those prompted by requirements defined by external sources.
Regarding strategic planning at East Carolina University, the Chancellor and I are grateful to Dr. Sharon Paynter and Dr. Ravi Paul for their leadership of our University’s 2023 - 2028 strategic plan refresh process, and wish to also thank the members of the Strategic Planning and the Strategic Advisory committees for their time, work, and thoughtfulness in collaborating together to produce the draft of the plan presented last week to the ECU community. Thanks also to the multiple facets of this University for the ways you have engaged (either in person or virtually in discussions and forums), and for your input throughout the planning process. If you have not documented your thoughts about the most recent draft of the plan through the survey released last week, please take a few moments to do so. This survey will be available until noon on March 7, 2023. Your engagement is so important to producing the best strategic plan for East Carolina University’s next five years, and particularly one that enables the individual and collective actions of the members of the Pirate Nation to be focused in the same direction while simultaneously ensuring this University’s strength, brand, relevance, and very bright future.
Regarding concerns about change, you and I know from experience that change is a fact of life. Yet that does not necessarily make navigating change any easier for us -- as individuals or as an institution of higher education. Just as ECU prepares its students well for their futures by equipping them with the necessary fundamentals plus the understanding and confidence gained from applying those fundamentals to practice (e.g., experiential learning via projects, practicums, internships, clinical experience, etc…) -- it is also true that ECU’s effectiveness in managing change relies on our knowledge, institutional values, and commitment to excelling in the application of both even as students, faculty, staff, requirements, and metrics continue to evolve. I realize that multiple articles have characterized higher education institutions as being resistant to change. Yet I wonder if the key to the people of the Pirate Nation effectively navigating the changes of this time may be the perspective we collectively adopt. This translates to acknowledging that everything is not in flux. For instance, ECU’s commitment to its mission, its creed, and being excellent in preparing our students for their professional careers remain steadfast -- and in doing so are anchors for our University. What continues to shift are aspects of the larger societal landscape within which ECU operates. From that point of view, ensuring that the goals of the University’s anchors continue to be fulfilled, even as some of our implementation strategies adapt as needed, is one way to enable ECU’s ambitions of being a positive national model to progress now and for decades into the future.
You have heard me say before that the people of ECU are our greatest strength. I absolutely believe this to be true. When that is coupled with a shared commitment to powering ECU’s positive future, I am confident that East Carolina University will always be successful in navigating the challenges before it. Thank you for choosing to be part of the secret weapon to ECU’s success.
Thank you for taking time to read the contents of this issue of First Monday. A special thanks to everyone who made this issue possible.
Go Pirates!
- Robin Coger
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BY THE NUMBERS
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AROUND ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
PIRATE ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER
Hosting 70 students and faculty in mid-February, the Pirate Academic Success Center’s annual We Love Our Faculty lunch provided the opportunity for students, staff and faculty to engage informally outside of the classroom. PASC student staff nominated faculty who positively impacted their ECU experience and invited their nominee to lunch. This year’s nominated faculty represented schools and colleges throughout the ECU campus.Hosted by PASC professional staff, the event celebrates faculty commitment to student success and fosters an opportunity for engagement. While we know student involvement with faculty research and shared intellectual experiences are characterized as high impact practices, informal interactions can be beneficial, too. For more information about high impact practices, click HERE.
OFFICE OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS
On February 14, NAFSA: The Association of International Educators announced ECU as a winner of the 2023 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization. The Comprehensive Simon is the top award in international education, given annually to only two to four universities. The award “... recognizes U.S. colleges and universities that are making significant, well-planned, well-executed, and well-documented progress toward comprehensive internationalization - especially those using innovative and creative approaches.” While much of the credit goes to the amazing Global Affairs staff, this is truly an institutional award. With engaged faculty, students and staff, ECU has made substantial progress in this arena over the past five years and has become a national model of comprehensive internationalization. Read more HERE.
For the first time, Global Affairs is participating in Pirate Nation Gives, ECU’s annual day of giving. As a university employee, from now until March 22 you have an opportunity to support international student scholarships for students from countries in crisis or study abroad scholarships. Participate in one of our “Fly Your Flag” or “Double Your Impact” challenges to unlock matching funds. Please share with prospective supporters of international education.
Help build a more welcoming and inclusive community for international students, faculty and staff at ECU. Global Zone Training provides an interactive and engaging opportunity for you to better understand the challenges international Pirates face and to develop strategies for helping them navigate rough waters. Sign up today for the training on March 21 from 2:00 – 5:00PM in Main Campus Student Center Room 249.
OFFICE OF RESEARCH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & ENGAGEMENT
A group of faculty researchers took part in a professional development workshop on February 22 in the Willis Auditorium. REDE and University Communications teamed up to host the first Research Communications Workshop in an effort to help researchers learn how to better share their work with the general public.
Topics included:
- Working with ECU News Services
- Benefits of Public Outreach
- Addressing a Lay Audience
- Your Research Story Elevator Pitch
- Sharing Your Story on Social Media
Participants heard from University Counsel on the latest regarding the UNESCO policy, and faculty even had a chance to practice interviews in front of cameras. Our invited guests for the media panel, Frank Graff with PBS North Carolina and Richard Stradling with The News & Observer, provided great insight on the media coverage side of things.
Thanks to the help of ECU Communications staff, ECU videographers, REDE staff, Pamela Hopkins with the Center for Communication Excellence and ECU’s Continuing & Professional Education, the event was a big success. We hope to do more workshops like this in the future so keep an eye out for the next opportunity!
REDE has launched the Sponsored Activities and Research Catalyst Program (SPARC) to support scholarly activities that lead to submission of competitive extramural proposals. This program will provide seed funding for projects to build the capacity to enhance and support proposal development and submission. Proposals are due April 3, 2023. Applications must be submitted via Smartsheet.
Over the past two years, REDE asked units to make decisions on who would be recognized as “outstanding scholars” at the annual Research and Scholarship Award Ceremony. While there has been some support for that approach, feedback from several colleges suggests there is an interest in a refined approach. To that end, REDE developed a new award, the Trend Setter Award, to identify noteworthy scholars in three categories, with the goal of recognizing emerging, mid-career, and exemplary faculty. All faculty, regardless of tenure status, department, school and/or college and field of study are welcome to submit their nomination. The deadline for nominations is March 20, 2023.
Annual Conflicts of Interest (COI) Disclosures: Complete by April 30
Annual Conflicts of Interest (COI) disclosures are required of all EHRA employees, regardless of employment status. The deadline for submission is April 30. However, we will be more than happy to receive annual disclosures any time prior to this date. Disclosures only take a few minutes to complete, so you can help reach the BOT goal of 100% completion rate by completing your disclosure sooner rather than later. Click HERE to go to the COI Risk Manager.
Former Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy (EOSA) member, Dr. April Reed presented at the Pathways to Achieving Civic Engagement Conference (PACE) on February 15 at High Point University. The conference, hosted by NC Campus Engagement, focuses on engaged scholarship in North Carolina. Dr. Reed presented during a mini session on diversity, equity and inclusion with a camp using the STEM camp she created during her time with EOSA. Dr. Rebecca Dumlao, a former EOSA coach, also presented at the conference.
ECU faculty will be honored on Wednesday, April 5 during the 7th annual Research & Scholarship Awards ceremony. Outstanding researchers and artists across ECU’s colleges and schools, along with faculty inventors and this year’s Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy (EOSA) will be recognized. The ceremony will take place inside Harvey Hall at the Murphy Center. A complete list of award recipients and honorees will be posted on REDE’s website following the ceremony.
Continuing & Professional Education Opportunities
- Continuing Education Classes for K-12 Teachers – Click to view available classes
- Glass Blowing at the GlasStation – Click to view available workshops
- Explore Sylvan Heights Bird Park, April 28 – Register online
- Summer Camps at the Coastal Studies Institute, June 12 - August 11 – Registration is open!
If you would like to offer your expertise as an instructor or propose an experiential excursion for our Lifelong Learning Program, contact Kelsey Dwyer or complete our online form. The Lifelong Learning Program is open to all adult learners, age 18 and up. Do you know someone who could benefit from the LLP classes and experiences? Find course and registration information HERE.
OFFICE OF ONLINE LEARNING, ACADEMIC OUTREACH & ACADEMIC INNOVATION
The ECU Online Student Services Team hosted a LIVE Q&A Distance Education Student Forum on February 22. Online students were invited to join us virtually for a presentation from the Career Services Office. Ms. Beth Waugh is a virtual Career Services Counselor with Career Services, and she gave an overview of all the services and resources available at a distance. Students were able to navigate through the career services website and view samples of resumes and cover letters for each major, learn how to schedule virtual appointments, how to access virtual workshops, search for jobs and internships, and so much more. After the presentation, the floor was opened for questions. Each fall and spring, we host a Live Q&A Distance Education Student Forum based on topics suggested by students. Past forums have focused on Library Services, Financial Aid, and the Pirate Academic Success Center.
OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS AND OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
News about scholarships and financial aid for the 2023-2024 academic year has started flowing across campus and to our prospective students! The campus scholarship committees were very busy making selections for the 2023-2024 recipients in February as were the staff in both Financial Aid and University Scholarships as the legwork for the decisions was done. Email notices about the results for many of the departmental and incoming freshman awards started going out on February 28. Scholarship notices will continue through the end of April as all of our schools/colleges finish their selection activities.
The first mailing of our comprehensive award letters (including loans, grants, scholarships) will go out to prospective students mid-March. The letters will be helpful for families and prospective students making enrollment decisions and attending Pirates Aboard – our spring yield event scheduled for March 25, 2023.
Many thanks to all scholarship reviewers for your hard work. The process works because of your support!
FACULTY SENATE
2022 - 2023 Faculty Senate meeting dates are as follows:
- March 28, 2023
- April 25, 2023
- May 2, 2023 (Organizational Meeting for 2023-2024)
For more about ECU Faculty Senate, click HERE.
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COLLEGE UPDATES
ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES
An interprofessional (IP) group of more than 40 students spent a Saturday together completing simulations, working through leadership & team-building activities, and learning about the patient perspective.
Participation in 'Developing Future Interprofessional Healthcare Leaders' doubled this year. Students from five colleges and schools gathered for the event, including:
- College of Allied Health Sciences (Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy & Physician Assistant Studies)
- Brody School of Medicine
- School of Dental Medicine
- College of Health and Human Performance (Social Work)
- College of Nursing
With the help of standardized patients from the Office of Clinical Skills Assessment and Education, IP teams completed two case studies together in the afternoon. They reviewed the patient’s records, formed a plan to approach the patient, and established a care plan in collaboration with one another and the patient.
Faculty served as facilitators for each group, providing feedback and encouraging consideration of each discipline, including:
- Dr. Leigh Cellucci, Health Services and Information Management
- Dr. Kirk Foster, Social Work
- Dr. Thompson Forbes, Nursing Science
- Dr. Taneet Ghuman, General Dentistry
- Dr. Christine Lysaght, Physical Therapy
- Dr. Jennifer McDougal, Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies
- Dr. Heather Panczykowski, Occupational Therapy
- Dr. Tim Reeder, Emergency Medicine
- Dr. Kelley Reinsmith-Jones, Social Work
- Dr. Rob Tempel, Dental Medicine
Dr. Kim Stokes, Director for the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at Elon University and ECU PA alumna – also attended as an event facilitator. The workshop is sponsored by the Truist Center for Leadership Development. Drs. Forbes, Ghuman, Lysaght, McDougal, Reeder, and Reinsmith-Jones served as members of the planning committee. Watch more HERE.
Occupational Therapy students visited Ross Hall to share their expertise with Dental Medicine students who may feel fatigue as they learn to use hand tools for longer durations of time. Pirate OTs, under the direction of Dr. Lauren Turbeville, Assistant Professor, and Rachel Taylor, Teaching Instructor, demonstrated exercises to help Dental Medicine students relieve their discomfort and protect against work injury. Continue reading HERE.
A team of Health Services Management (HSM) students attended the second Undergraduate Case Competition for Health Administration Programs hosted by the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Bradly Boaz, HSM junior, Gwen Daniels, junior, Claire Kraft, senior, and Nina Thompson, senior, prepared their presentation under the direction of Dr. Bob Kulesher, Professor and HSM Program Director. The Department of Health Services and Information Management presented each student with a medal to commemorate their participation upon return to campus. Continue reading HERE.
ARTS & SCIENCES
Lorraine Hale Robinson, ECU English faculty emerita, has a prestigious 2023 music award named after her, which was announced at the recent NC Metropolitan Opera district competition in Charlotte. This year’s Lorraine Hale Music Instruction Encouragement Award, which carries a $500 prize, was presented to classical tenor Zachary Taylor. Robinson retired from ECU and Harriot College's Department of English in December of 2012, having served for many years as director of the ECU Center for the Liberal Arts and as senior associate editor of the North Carolina Literary Review. In addition to her continuing activities as an occasional reviewer for NCLR, she has been a long-time performing artist and teacher (voice and piano) in New Bern and an avid supporter of the Met's district auditions, recently renamed The Laffont Competition: Metropolitan Opera.
In the college’s most recent alumni newsletter, the Winter ‘22/’23 issue of Cornerstone, we share how faculty, staff, and students work diligently to provide opportunities that help colleagues and other students grow far beyond their wildest dreams. Read our newest issue HERE; current and previous issues are available on the college website.
Perry Selected for Distinguished Professorship in International Studies
ECU professor of anthropology Dr. Megan Perry has been selected for the Thomas W. Rivers Distinguished Professorship for International Studies in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. Perry will hold the professorship through the 2023-24 academic year and is eligible for reappointment.
The professorship is named after the late Thomas W. Rivers. According to his daughter, Helen R. McLawhorn, her father’s curiosity about the world made him a lifelong explorer. Before his death in 1985, he established a fund at ECU “so students could taste the world beyond eastern North Carolina,” McLawhorn said. “He was always interested in people in foreign countries and their cultures. He enjoyed meeting them and opening the doors of the community to them.”
“I feel honored and excited to continue efforts to internationalize the campus through providing support for students and faculty in their international endeavors, as well as receiving additional support for my own research activities,” Perry said. Read more HERE.
Perry also has been elected Vice President of the Paleopathology Association, an international professional organization for individuals who focus on human remains to research health and disease in the past. In addition, Perry worked on a collaborative research study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that provides evidence about the impact of rapid climate change events on human health in diverse societies over the past 5,000 years. Read that ECU news release HERE.
BRODY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Children and adolescents with mental health care needs will benefit from a $3.2 million partnership between ECU and the United Health Foundation. The grant will expand the North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP) within the ECU Center for Telepsychiatry and e-Behavioral Health. The investment is part of the United Health Foundation’s ongoing commitment to working with ECU to address mental health challenges in North Carolina — this time with youth.
In joining leaders to announce the three-year partnership, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper highlighted the critical needs surrounding children’s mental health in the state. “Not only do we need to pay attention to our health, but our mental health as well and we’re recognizing that more than ever,” Cooper said. “That’s why I am so excited that the United Health Foundation, Dr. Sy Saeed and ECU have come together to try to get mental health treatment to young people in a more efficient and better way.”
Cooper said the NC-STeP partnership between ECU and the United Health Foundation helps advance toward his mission for the state for people to be able to live healthier lives with opportunities of purpose and abundance. Cooper said residents of rural North Carolina know how hard it is to get access to health care. Telemedicine will help bring experts to people wherever they are throughout North Carolina.
ECU officially opened its Mount Olive Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) last week during a ribbon-cutting ceremony, ushering in a much-needed resource for addressing child abuse cases in underresourced eastern North Carolina counties.
The center joins the Tender Evaluation, Diagnosis and Intervention for a BEtter Abuse Response (TEDI BEAR) Children’s Advocacy Center in Greenville that provides evaluation, education and treatment services in cases of abuse or witness to violence. The Greenville and Mount Olive centers are supported by East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine and ECU Health. The Mount Olive location is a sign of the successes in the TEDI BEAR clinic through ECU’s ongoing partnerships with state, county and local governments and community organizations that are dedicated to reducing the impact that child abuse has in the East.
One of nearly 900 children’s advocacy centers across the United States, the TEDI BEAR Children’s Advocacy Center is the largest center in North Carolina and is accredited to provide a full spectrum of assessment, treatment, education and prevention for children up to 18 years old who may have been victims of child abuse or neglect. The center is a partnership between the Department of Pediatrics at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at ECU Health Medical Center. Each year, TEDI BEAR cares for more than 700 children from over 30 counties in eastern North Carolina.
COVID-19 immunity research
Public health researchers from the Brody School of Medicine, led by Suzanne Lea, have finalized their findings of the Pirates’ Prevention and COVID-19 Testing Study (PiratePACT) study of immune response to the COVID-19 virus in young adults and determined that the majority of “healthy young adults did not have long-lasting” immune response after natural infection prior to vaccination.
Findings indicated that after about four months, nearly 70 percent of healthy young adults had lost their natural immunity to the virus after a detectable infection. Alternatively, those who were vaccinated showed very strong immunity to COVID-19, with immunity persisting longer than in unvaccinated participants.
Antibodies created by exposure to COVID-19 are referred to as nucleocapsid proteins and were a critical aspect of the PiratePACT study. “The nucleocapsid protein is useful for understanding recent infection, movement of infection within a community, and helps distinguish natural infection from vaccine-induced antibody responses to the spike protein,” explained Lea, a professor of public health at Brody.
QI symposium
The seventh annual Unified Quality Improvement Symposium was held on Feb. 1 at Eastern AHEC, showcasing 30 projects related to quality improvement, patient safety, population health and interprofessional practice at ECU Health. Nearly 140 participants attended the hybrid symposium, during which academic and community physicians, health professionals, health care teams, residents, fellows and students at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University had the opportunity to present their work in systems improvement and practice redesign to an audience of peers and health system leaders.
BUSINESS
Dr. Linda Quick has been named the assistant dean of the Thomas D. Arthur Graduate School of Business. Quick, who joined the COB in 2013, is currently a tenured associate professor in the Department of Accounting and has been doing so since 2020. About her new role, Quick says, "I want to be able to build a school that meets the students' needs and finds an innovative way to impact education for different populations of students, including military-affiliated students."
The College of Business welcomed Triangle East Complex (serving Greenville, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, Smithfield and Wilmington) of Raymond James & Associates to campus recently and thanked them for their gift of the LED stock ticker now on display on the third floor of Bate Building.
Dr. Patrick McKay, a professor in the Department of Management, was invited to serve as an associate editor of the Journal of Management, the no. 2 business journal in the world. "Dr. McKay's selection as an associate editor for this prestigious and highly impactful journal indicates the academy's respect for his scholarship," said Dr. Joy Karriker, chair, the Department of Management. More information is available HERE.
Accreditation and entrepreneurship professionals from the Middle East and North Africa recently visited the U.S. to network, build skills, and further develop cross-regional knowledge-sharing opportunities. One of their stops included visiting the Miller School of Entrepreneurship to learn more about its programs and how ECU collaborates with area small business development to drive rural and economic community development.
Sharon Rogers Moore, Ph.D., ATC, associate professor and innovator in residence with the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, was awarded a grant totaling $110,365 by Pitt County Schools (PCS) to continue advisement of the county's Athletic Training Program. This two-year agreement will extend the partnership between PCS and Dr. Moore into its fourteenth year.
The School of Hospitality Leadership expanded its annual career fair to include the hospitality leaders of tomorrow. Titled the Hospitality & Tourism Career Pathways Student Conference, the SHL welcomed area high school students from various grades who expressed an interest in a hospitality career. During their visit, the high school students heard from hospitality representatives, participated in a panel discussion with hospitality recruiters, and previewed the SHL Career Fair.
DENTAL MEDICINE
The School of Dental Medicine kicked off a new program earlier this month that will provided oral health care and dental hygiene education to schoolchildren in Jones County.
The Jones County School-Based Oral Health Prevention Program will provide care to students at Trenton Elementary/Jones Senior High School as well as Maysville, Pollocksville and Comfort elementary schools. Enrolled participants can receive clinical services that include radiographs, fluoride varnish, sealants, silver diamine fluoride, comprehensive and periodic exams and teledentistry exams. The kick-off event was held Feb. 9 at Trenton Elementary; since then, nearly 10 students have received care and more than 200 are enrolled in the program.
“The program will be open to all Jones County children, regardless of insurance coverage,” said Rachel Stewart, project manager and public health dental hygienist at the ECU School of Dental Medicine. “Additionally, all children — not just those enrolled — will receive yearly oral hygiene education and oral hygiene supplies.”
Pediatric dental collaborative
After years of shaping a concrete idea from a vision, the School of Dental Medicine hosted the inaugural cohort of the Jasper L. Lewis, Jr. Collaborative in Pediatric Dentistry.
The collaborative provides practicing general dentists a year-long program built around rigorous academic classroom and clinical experiences focused on building their knowledge and skills in caring for pediatric dental patients. The collaborative was created to mirror the values of the School of Dental Medicine — including the mission to be vocal advocates for children, while also being professionally positioned to improve their oral health care.
“Additional training in pediatric dentistry is something I have sought out and hoped for, for a long time,” said Rachel Tucker, one of the first four participants in the Lewis Collaborative, who practices at Seaside Dentistry in Cedar Point, N.C., and attended the University of Alabama–Birmingham School of Dentistry.
“My practice sees a lot of children and I enjoy them as patients. The more comfortable I am with the clinical concepts, the more efficient I am, and the freer I am to be a team manager and relationship builder, thus creating a better experience for the patient and caregiver. From a public health perspective, more convenience means better access to care. These are ripple effects.”
The Lewis Collaborative is led by Michael Webb, chair of the ECU dental school’s Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics.
Webb was named the school’s inaugural Jasper L. Lewis, Jr. Distinguished Scholar last year. The Lewis Collaborative is an extension of the Jasper L. Lewis Distinguished Professorship that is named in honor of Dr. Jasper L. Lewis, a pediatric dentist in Greenville, N.C.,
The School of Dental Medicine held its eighth annual Celebration of Research and Scholarship (CORAS) on Feb. 8, hosting 45 research posters and a keynote speaker from the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine.
The event gave dental students, as well as undergraduate and post-graduate students from other ECU programs, an opportunity to discuss their research and celebrate the school’s commitment to high quality research. The school’s two summer research scholars presented their posters among their peers as well.
“The role of research in improving oral health is essential if we’re going to make progress and create new knowledge,” said ECU School of Medicine Dean Greg Chadwick, as he welcomed guests to the event. “This means having faculty that are involved in research, engaged in scholarly work and committed to inspiring curious students and residents, enabling them and encouraging them to develop a passion for discovery.”
The variety of posters at the event showed a depth of research that points to potential improvements in oral health and overall health.
“I’m very, very impressed at the work that’s done by the students, staff and faculty here at ECU,” said Mary Farwell, assistant vice chancellor for research development at ECU. “You make the reach across the university with lots of collaboration, and that’s what I think ECU prides itself on, not having siloes and putting together teams that may not have thought about working together … but come up with some really interesting research.”
David Paquette, the dental school’s interim associate dean for research, said the quality of this year’s posters speaks to the vibrant growth of the school’s research programs.
“The Office of Research staff and I are thrilled with this year’s abstract submissions,” he said. “I want to acknowledge all of our student, resident and faculty poster presenters and also the mentors of these individuals.”
Osborne Scholarship
Alexis Lollis ’21, a first-year student at the School of Dental Medicine, has been chosen as the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Colin Osborne Jr. Scholarship.
Named in honor of North Carolina native Colin Porter Osborne Jr., D.D.S., the scholarship awards an annual grant to a student to further their dental school education at ECU. Osborne Jr. served the greater Lumberton community through his private dental practice from 1947 until his passing in 2000.
“Dental school is expensive and being awarded this scholarship will certainly ease the financial burdens over these next four years,” Lollis said. “I’m so grateful to the Osborne family for their generosity. It is an honor to be the first recipient at the School of Dental Medicine.”
Based on academic merit and financial need, the scholarship supports aspiring dental students from Bladen, Columbus, Robeson and Scotland counties in hopes they will return to the area to serve the community. After being accepted into the program, Lollis sought opportunities to help lessen the financial strain that dental school can carry. She learned about the scholarship and immediately applied.
“Growing up in Robeson County, I was drawn to ECU because it felt like home. I pursued my undergraduate degree in public health and chemistry, and when it came time to select a dental school, I knew without a doubt that ECU’s School of Dental Medicine was where I was meant to be. The environment, the camaraderie and the education that the school offers are what makes it unique.”
EDUCATION
Partnership Teach's Sonya Small represented ECU during the governor's DRIVE Task Force Tour. Partnership Teach is a degree-completion model that increases access to education and reflects the COE’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Project I4 EdD student Krystal Cox co-published a piece on EducationNC, “The power of early colleges: Innovative practices,” detailing how early colleges are innovative and effective. Krystal is an education consultant at RTI International, where she supports schools and district leaders in the pursuit to provide an equitable education to students. She also has eight years of experience as a principal of an early college high school.
Library Science's Dr. Kawanna Bright will deliver the 2023 Kilgour Lecture hosted by the UNC School of Information and Library Science. In her talk, titled "EDI, Research, and LIS: Interest, Effort, and Impact," Bright will discuss topics surrounding equity, diversity, and inclusion in the library and information science space.
Dr. Shanita Brown in Counselor Education has created a new course called Trauma and Crisis Counseling that will focus on crisis intervention theory. Topics of discussion include natural disasters, violence, school shootings, intimate partner violence, veterans issues, compassion fatigue and more.
ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
College of Engineering and Technology students have a new tool to stay up to date with college events and student organizations. The college’s Student Success Center started use this semester of the application Raftr, a free, centralized CET engagement platform that focuses on peer-to-peer connections, First Year Program connections and college engagement. Read more HERE.
Dr. Amin Akhnoukh, construction management, Dr. Ricky Castles, engineering, and Dr. Sohan Gyawali, technology systems, have been selected for the 2023 Course FIT (Functional Innovative Teaching) program. Course FIT provides an intensive opportunity for faculty to explore effective design for fully online courses and select educational technologies that can help accomplish their instructional goals.
Dr. Yilei Huang, associate professor in the Department of Construction Management, has received an ECU Teaching Grant Award for 2023 from the Teaching Grants Committee. His research topic is “Leveraging Modern Surveying Equipment to Enhance Career Readiness for Construction Management Students: Total Stations, GPS and Drones.” The $10,000 award will allow Huang to begin the research project this summer.
Dr. Erol Ozan, associate professor in the Department of Technology Systems, was a recipient of an ECU Alternative Textbook Program Award. The program gives faculty the option to switch to course materials that are free to students or to build more inclusive and/or localized course materials. Award recipients receive $1,000 and are paired with a personal librarian to assist them with the transition to their new course materials.
Dr. Nic Herndon, computer science, and Dr. Sunghan Kim, engineering, presented during Love Data Week during Valentine’s Day week at Laupus Library. Herndon discussed ethical considerations for data collection and use, while Kim and graduate researcher Marwa Antar talked about analyzing electroencephalograms to understand the connectivity between different parts of the brain.
Little did Josh Sutton realize how one email could change his life. Now, the engineering major is looking forward to a career in the pharmaceutical industry through pathways created as part of the Eastern Region Pharma Center. Read more HERE.
Colin Foley is on the fast track toward a career in engineering after his internship with Richard Childress Racing, one of NASCAR’s most successful teams. Foley worked mainly with the racing team’s Xfinity series cars, using machinery and math to measure the chassis. Read more HERE.
Dr. Mohammad Saberian Boroujeni, vice chancellor postdoctoral fellow from the school of engineering at RMIT University in Australia, presented his research on the use of discarded personal protective equipment in civil and infrastructural applications to construction management faculty. Boroujeni is touring the U.S. as part of his fellowship.
FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION
To honor Black History Month, the College of Fine Arts and Communication hosted the Black Creatives of Pitt County (BCPC) Exhibition. During the February CFAC PoPs, part of Greenville’s First Friday event, BCPC artists and community members gathered at the Proctor-Yongue House to share their stories with their art, spoken word, music, and poetry. CFAC is committed to creating a safe and inclusive space and a hub for fellowship and conversation for all members of ECU and the surrounding communities.
SoAD alum, Jamaal Barber (BFA 2003) will compete in The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist. The Hirshhorn has partnered with MTV and Smithsonian Channel to share even more modern and contemporary art with the world through the new series “The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist.” Premiering Friday, March 3 at 9PM ET/PT on MTV and 10PM ET/PT every week after, this first-of-its-kind docuseries highlights seven rising artists creating innovative artworks and behind-the-scenes peeks inside the Hirshhorn and our collection. Episodes re-air on Smithsonian Channel, starting Tuesday, March 7 at 9PM ET/PT. You can see Jamaals work HERE.
School of Communication and College of Fine Arts and Communication welcomed the visit of Dr. Władysław Witalisz, Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Jagiellonian University. Dr. Witalisz met with CFAC faculty, students, and members of Global Affairs to strengthen the ongoing efforts between ECU and institutions in Poland regarding study abroad, faculty exchange, ERASMUS+ program, and Global Partners in Education.
The Friends of the School of Music recently hosted the Annual Winter Benefit Gala, the largest fundraiser for the School of Music at the Rock Springs Center. The Friends of the School of Music was established in 1981 to raise scholarship dollars for talented music students with financial needs. Since then, the organization has contributed over $400,000 to the education of over 500 students.
Directed by Professor Tommi Galaska, School of Theatre and Dance presented "Swing!" in McGinnis Theatre, a musical that celebrates the music and the moves of the era of jazz. This musical premiered on Broadway in 1999 and ran for more than 450 performances and received five Tony nominations. The ECU SoTD/Loessin Playhouse production, which features a cast of 21, is set in the 1930s and 1940s and performed as a revue.
HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE
The Nancy Darden Child Development Center earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This accreditation is a rigorous and transformative quality-improvement system that uses a set of 10 research-based standards to collaborate with early education programs to recognize and drive quality-improvement in high-quality early learning environments.
A special opportunity for experiential learning sent 10 students, along with HHP staff and faculty representatives Mack Craven and Drs. Stacy Warner and Andrea Buenano, to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona. This was part of the kinesiology department’s Super Bowl LVII Event Management class, supported by funding from the Office of Research, Economic, Development and Engagement.
Congratulations to ECU Faculty Author Book Award winners Drs. Mary Jackson, Margaret Arnd-Caddigan and Mark Moore. Also, HHP faculty members Drs. Tiffany Blanchflower, Andy Brimhall, Jennie Cole, Joseph Lee and Kathleen Egan were recognized for participating in the ECU Alternative Textbook Program to promote student affordability.
Dr. Joseph Lee, HHP’s associate dean for research, coordinated an East Carolina University and N.C. State University sponsored reception focused on farmworker health. This was for North Carolinians working in farmworker health to meet ECU students, trainees and mingle with the state’s community health workers and others who attended the West Coast Migrant Stream Forum in Long Beach, California. Almost 30 people affiliated with the grant attended this conference, including Jamie Bloss, Dr. Leslie Cofie, Lee and four ECU undergraduate students, as well as mentors and health care professionals who are ECU health education and promotion alums.
A total of 19 students and faculty from the Department of Health Education and Promotion attended the 44th annual UNC Minority Health Conference on Feb. 24. The conference theme was “Practicing Health as a Human Right: Policy, Ethics and the Law.” More conference details can be found HERE.
February was Recreational Therapy Month. In HHP, we partnered with ECU Athletics for multiple sensory inclusive basketball games for fans featuring PeeDee’s Sensory Room, and celebrated the Center for Biofeedback. Therapists using biofeedback as a treatment tool can train clients to improve their brain activity, blood pressure, heart rate and other body functions that individuals often consider involuntary.
HONORS
Honors students Molly Baile and Oasis Lopez were highlighted in the recent ECU News article about the Golden LEAF Foundation’s scholarship program.
Honors student Elizabeth Bailey used her URCA funding to conduct a dance performance and research project called “Pieces of Us” highlighting what it means to deal with trauma.
Honors College professor Dr. Steve Ballard was recognized at ECU’s annual faculty book authors ceremony. This ceremony recognizes faculty that have authored or edited a book. Dr. Ballard addressed the processes of writing his new book, along with his motivations.
Honors College students Wrenn Whitfield and Melony Hodges were quoted in an article highlighting ECU School of Dental Medicine’s Hyde County Outreach Clinic. They spoke about the importance of helping the community surrounding them.
Honors College students were featured on WNCT for their service to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
EC Scholar Luke Boldt was elected as the Vice President of Member Programming and Development on ECU’s Interfraternity Council.
The Honors College and EC Scholar Program hosted Selection Sunday on Feb. 19 where 47 finalists for the EC Scholar Program visited campus and interviewed for the program. We want to commend our staff and students for their hard work on making the day possible, especially due to the unforeseen circumstance of a gas leak in the Main Campus Student Center, causing them to quickly regroup and ensure finalists had an enjoyable and informative day.
INTEGRATED COASTAL PROGRAMS
Integrated Coastal Sciences Ph.D. student Samantha Farquhar is a semi-finalist for the Department of Defense’s SMART Scholarship Program.
Dr. David Griffith is lead author on the newly published article “Migration and livelihood constellations: Assessing common themes in the face of environmental change in Somalia and among Agro-Pastoral peoples.” ICS Ph.D. Genevieve Guerry is also among the authors. The article can be found HERE.
Genevieve Guerry was also recently chosen as an ECU Water Resources Center Water Scholar for the Spring 2023 semester. The award will help fund her project entitled “Preliminary Perceptions of Chemical Contamination in Cape Fear Region.”
Department of Engineering undergraduate students Matthew Stengrim and Nicole Obando will present a podium talk on their work “Air Temperature Profiling Over Different Littoral Surfaces” at the national meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Chicago May 8 - 12, 2023. The abstract was accepted in a special session focused on Acoustic Propagation Effects. Under the guidance of Dr. Teresa Ryan and Jeff Foeller, Stengrim and Obando conducted field work at the ECU Outer Banks Campus as part of a special topics course for undergraduate directed research during Fall 2023. The work produced key results relating near-surface air temperature profiles and wind speeds.
Dr. Jim Morley (Asst. Professor, Dept. of Biology; Asst. Scientist, Coastal Studies Institute) and a collaborator from UNC-Wilmington (Dr. Fred Scharf) were recently awarded a $280,000 grant from the NC Department of Environmental Quality and the North Carolina Commercial Fishing Resource Fund. This three-year grant will fund research into the impacts that invasive blue catfish have on the Albemarle Sound ecosystem. Blue catfish have greatly increased in abundance over the last fifteen years. This species may be having a negative predatory impact on important fisheries resources in the region. Two graduate students will begin work this summer to collect data on blue catfish feeding habits.
Elizabeth City State University’s Dr. Jinchun Yuan has been chosen as ICP’s 2023 Coastal Fellow. His work during the fellowship will include obtaining vertical profiles of carbon dioxide in the lower troposphere near Cape Hatteras to estimate air-sea carbon fluxes from measurements in marine atmosphere. A suite of physical and chemical sensors will be carried to a set of altitudes using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) to obtain vertical profiles of trace gases including carbon dioxide in the marine boundary layer. The research aims demonstrate the applicability of UAV in sampling, measurements, and remote sensing of coastal environments. Additionally, the research would demonstrate unique location of Cape Hatteras for studying marine boundary layer from a land-based site.
Coastal Studies Institute Summer Camp Registration opened on March 1. Sign up now to reserve your camper’s spot! Information regarding themes, dates, prices, and registration can be found at HERE.
After a quick break in February, the Coastal Studies Institute’s Science on the Sound monthly public lecture series is back through June! Join us at 6:00PM online or in person at the ECU Outer Banks Campus on the following evenings for a free, fun evening of learning: March 30, April 20, May 18, and June 15, 2023.
CSI and Jennette's Pier will host the annual North Carolina Renewable Energy Challenge on the ECU Outer Banks Campus on April 1, 2023. This year's competition is open to elementary, middle, and high school-aged students and will focus on renewable energy from wind and ocean currents. For more information and to sign up by March 15, please visit the NCREC webpage.
The ECU Outer Banks Campus and Coastal Studies Institute will host its annual open house on Earth Day this year! More details are forthcoming but in the meantime, please save the date for April 22, 2023, and plan to attend this free and fun community event.
JOYNER LIBRARY
A reception and awards ceremony was held for the 15th annual School of Art and Design Graduate Student Art Exhibition in the Janice Hardison Faulkner Gallery. The exhibit featured 18 participating artists. Award winners were Joogab Kim, Lorraine Scalamoni, Lindsey Swan, Emily Booker and Michael Gaines. More on the exhibit and a list of all participants is available HERE.
The main campus library is honored to host the traveling exhibition, “Navigating Jim Crow: The Green Book and Oasis Spaces in North Carolina” through March 27. Exhibit programming in February during Black History Month included a guest lecture by Leesa Jones, director of the Underground Railroad Museum in Washington, N.C. Jones noted in her talk that, “This book was a guide and a help. It went straight to the Black community and you found everything that you needed.”
We are pleased to announce a new system for requesting Special Collections material and for research room reservations. Special Collections holds rare, archival and reference material. A helpful tutorial video is available HERE as a guide for using this reservation system.
A special blog series project by Academic Library Services manuscripts curator Patrick Cash dives into the many layers of the James H. and Virginia Schlobin Literature of the Fantastic Collection. The final entry in February featured Samuel R. “Chip” Delany, Jr., who is recognized as one of the most influential African American science fiction writers of the 20th century.
LAUPUS HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY
Corey Harmon, library assistant professor, and Kerry Sewell, library associate professor, have published a systematic review studying the effect of patient education on patient engagement through patient portals. Patient portals provide patients access to health records, lab results, medication refills, educational materials, secure messaging, appointment scheduling and telehealth visits, allowing patients to take a more active role in their health care decisions and management. Conclusion? It seems that patient portals are becoming a powerful tool for patient education and engagement and show promise as a means of achieving the quadruple aim of health care.
The Medical History Interest Group lecture for March is, “What are in these pills, doc?”: Modern Chemical Insights into 19th C. Alternative Medicines. ECU doctoral candidate Elizabeth LaFave will speak about the research that she and undergraduate students learning in her chemistry lab have conducted for the past few years. LaFave and her team studied herbal “remedies” from ECU’s Country Doctor Museum within homeopathic kits and vials, dating from the 1840s to the early 1900s.
This presentation will describe how the research was conducted, including using mass spectrometry and spectroscopic techniques to identify the actual components in these remedies. The team completed the chemical research in tandem with historical research, studying historical materials such as medical advertisements and other information, to more fully develop a picture of how the chemical analyses could fit into the atmosphere of debate between traditional allopathic medicines and alternative homeopathic treatments during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The event is at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, virtually and in the 4th floor Evelyn Fike Laupus Gallery of the Laupus Library.
NURSING
Each year, the College of Nursing honors the practicing clinicians who take on preceptees without compensation. The 2022 cohort of Preceptors of the Year have guided, taught and held ECU’s future Pirate nurses to the high standards required of nursing graduates.
This year’s preceptors range from recent graduates who have taken the initiative to show nursing students the practical aspects of the profession to an oncology nurse with three decades of experience who is using her final days as a nursing leader to mold and mentor the next generation of North Carolina’s health care team.
The preceptor volunteers spend many hours with ECU nursing students, demonstrating the technical skills necessary to care for the ill and injured, but just as importantly, serving as a role model, coach and cheerleader. Nursing is a profession of the head and heart, as much the hands, and the preceptors who take ECU nursing students on are among the first to show their preceptees why the nursing profession is unique among health care professionals.
"A value can’t be placed on the contributions that preceptors add to a student’s education," said Bim Akintade, dean of the College of Nursing.
“We’re coming out of a very complicated period in the history of health care in our country,” Akintade said. “The COVID-19 pandemic had a lasting impact on the public’s positive regard for nurses, but unfortunately the demands of caring for so many sick people for so long have reduced the number of nurses in the workforce. Without volunteer preceptors, there is no way that we will be able to field the number of qualified nurses that the next decade will require of health care professionals in North Carolina.”
The 2022 Preceptors of the Year represent hundreds of nursing professionals across the state whose quiet dedication to the nursing profession ensures the nationally recognized quality of the education that the ECU College of Nursing provides.
Dean publishes paper on enrollment trends
Dean Bim Akintade has published, with colleagues from the universities of Maryland and Miami and private industry, a paper titled, “Intentional diversity in academia: Recruiting, admitting, enrolling, and retaining underrepresented students in nursing programs.” From the paper’s abstract, the paper summarizes “nationwide undergraduate nursing enrollment trends and discuss strategies to improve recruitment, admissions, enrollment, and retention of nursing students who belong to underrepresented groups.” Full text of the article is available HERE.
Addressing health disparities
East Carolina University Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students participated in an educational initiative to address health disparities related to substance use disorder treatment at the College of Nursing January 23. ECU College of Nursing Department of Advanced Nursing Practice and Education faculty champions Dr. Brittany Baker and Dr. Chandra Speight, and student champions Dorrie Edgeston-Jones and Jacob Talkington, joined Mountain Area Health Education Center staff to facilitate an interactive session on diversity, equity, and inclusion in substance use treatment titled “Inter-sections: Promoting Equity in the Management of Substance Use Disorders.”
Post-master's DNP student Sara Noe served as a student champion in the planning stages of the event, sharing her expertise as a nurse practitioner with years of experience in treating individuals experiencing substance use disorder.
The initiative was supported by a grant from the Governor’s Institute on Substance Abuse for integrating opioid use disorder education into advanced practice nurse curricula. “Focused education on diversity, equity, and inclusion is essential to our efforts to reduce health care disparities related to substance use disorder treatment,” Speight said. "This education provided students and faculty a forum to consider and address how individual and institutional biases negatively impact substance use-related care access and outcomes."
“This education is part of our ongoing effort to ensure our graduates are leaders in addressing the opioid epidemic in the communities we serve," said Dr. Michelle Skipper, ECU College of Nursing FNP and AGPCNP concentration director.
Six ECU College of Nursing faculty members attended the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Doctoral Education Conference Jan. 18-20 in Coronado, California. In attendance were Drs. Megan Dillon, Alex Hodges, Shannon Powell, Pam Reis, Michelle Skipper and Jan Tillman. Drs. Powell and Hodges were recognized as first-place award winners in the Evidence Based Practice and Quality category for their poster entitled ‘Sharing Your Passion Within a PhD, DNP Collaboration’. Drs. Tillman and Skipper gave invited podium presentations on Universal Design for Learning and Healthcare Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, respectively.
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