COGER'S CORNER
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Today marks the first day of our Spring 2023 semester and I am delighted to welcome our students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members and partners back to East Carolina University for the new year. Many of you have heard me say that ECU’s greatest strength is our people, and I thank you all for the critical role that you each play in making our University amazing. The sense of pride in the voices of December’s graduates and their family members, and visible from the Fall 2022 Grad Profiles, was an excellent reminder of the positive difference that each person can make to the benefit of the student experience at ECU and in guiding our students across the graduation finish line into their careers. Each time you leverage your research expertise to excite students in your courses about the applications of the concepts they’re learning in your lectures; or show patience and/or sensitivity in helping an ECU student, visitor, caller or team member; or when you collaborate together on a challenging initiative, project, task force or committee for the purpose of doing good work aligned with the mission of ECU; or you leverage your knowledge and expertise to create amazing results – or the many other things that the people of ECU achieve each day and each week – you shine a light on what makes ECU great. Thank you for confirming through your actions that East Carolina University is and will always be a wonderful institution because of the hearts, minds and acts of the great people of this University.
In 2023 we have a lot to do as a university and as I’ve often said, the work is worth doing. As I look forward to all that we will accomplish together, I am also conscious that even in the midst of recent celebrations of the holiday season and a winter break from normal campus operations, the last few weeks have also presented personal challenges for many members of the ECU family. There were sentiments included within my November 2022 Coger’s Corner that are still apropos, namely: “… it continues to be important that those most deeply affected know that the Pirate Nation cares. That sense of support and caring across the University is also key to what makes East Carolina University the place that current and future Pirates want to work and the place that our students want to earn their degrees and other credentials." I ask each of you to continue to offer the gift of kindness and positivity to each other in 2023, since we never truly know all that our colleagues are managing.
I hope you enjoy this January issue of First Monday. I thank everyone who contributed to its content, with a special thank you to Jules Norwood for his help in pulling together the content this month and for the last couple of issues. I wish the entire University community a great spring semester and I commit to doing my best to support academic excellence and the success of East Carolina University.
Go Pirates!
- Robin Coger
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BY THE NUMBERS
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AROUND ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
PIRATE ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER
Establishing Successful Connections with the Pirate Academic Success Center
Over the next few weeks, you may encounter students who are not meeting personal or academic milestones. We know that these conversations can be difficult, and PASC makes it easy to connect students with our free services.
Spring 2023 Service Options for Academic Recovery and Success:
- Mindset for Academic Success Canvas course. Students receive study skills essentials and academic mentoring services. Students choose online mentoring or in-person assistance. Students can sign up for the Mindset for Academic Success program by sending an email to tutoring@ecu.edu or completing a Mindset for Success application.
- SHIP Academic Success Workshop Series. Success Happens in the PASC workshops are designed to help students improve academic performance and achieve academic success. For a full workshop schedule visit Mindset for Success.
PASC Spring Academic Success Services:
PASC provides student success services for all undergraduates at ECU. Services include course tutoring by appointment, study groups for undergraduate courses, study skills coaching, and Canvas course support videos for BIOL 2130, 2140, 2150, CHEM 1120, 1130, 2750, 2760, PHYS 1250, and 1260.
- For a full list of PASC services students visit ecu.accudemia.net or email tutoring@ecu.edu.
Referring Students for Help:
Staff, faculty, and parents can refer students to the PASC by using the Student Referral Form or by sending an email to tutoring@ecu.edu. PASC staff will follow up with the referred student and match services to best meet their academic success needs.
Become a PASC Student Success partner:
- Include the PASC in your syllabus.
- Add the PASC CANVAS Module. Located in the Canvas Commons, include the PASC services overview module in your Canvas course. Directions on adding our module to your Canvas Course can be found here.
- Request a Study Skills Class Presentation. Complete this request form.
- Utilize ECU’s STARFISH Early Alert System. PASC staff reach out to students you identify and offer support services.
- Recommend outstanding students. Email staff or tutoring@ecu.edu with the names of successful students in your courses who may be qualified to tutor or be an academic success coach.
PASC Spring 2023 Start Up Schedule:
- Tuesday, Jan. 17 - Tutoring and study skills coaching by appointment begin.
- Monday, Jan. 23 - Walk-in tutoring nights and study groups begin.
OFFICE OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS
While at Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) in Indonesia during her Fulbright program, Dr. Jami Leibowitz taught a virtual exchange course in collaboration with Dr. Ewa Silver’s Global Understanding History course here at ECU. ECU students Elizabeth Pitts and Skyler Kinion and their UNAIR partners, Nabilah Az-Zahro’ and Kaniraras Nugrahandini were invited to present at an event organized by the US Consulate in Surabaya, Indonesia about their experience. The ECU students and their UNAIR counterparts presented the collaborative projects they produced together and discussed their overall experience in the class learning about and sharing their respective cultures.
In November, the Department of Construction Management hosted 40 students and 5 lecturers from partner institution, Han University of Applied Sciences, in the Nijmegen, Netherlands. During their 2-day visit to Greenville, they received tours of ECU’s campus and athletic facilities, had collaborative discussions and presentations with ECU faculty and students and experienced ECU dining and student center facilities. The group continued their tour of the US with a trip to Washington DC.
Twenty-nine ECU faculty, staff and administrators took part in Global Affair’s semi-annual Global Zone Training during International Education Week in November. The program, one of only a handful at U.S. institutions of higher education, is designed to improve the international student experience by building a network of advocates and allies to strengthen international students' sense of belonging and inclusion. Be on the lookout for the next Global Zone Training in March.
Congratulations to Dennis McCunney and the Intercultural Affairs team at ECU on receiving this year’s Student Affairs Professional Global Partnership award from NAPSA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education). Dennis’s team, along with partner Amizade, will be recognized at the NASPA annual conference for developing ethical global learning programs that encourage international engagement, cooperation, and collaboration between student affairs professionals.
OFFICE FOR EQUITY & DIVERSITY
Recognizing Exemplary Contributions to Diversity and Inclusion through ECU’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Awards
Directly supporting ECU’s mission, these four annual awards will recognize demonstrated significant D&I achievements of (1) full-time faculty (teaching EHRA), (2) full-time staff (SHRA, non-teaching EHRA and CSS), (3) full-time undergraduate or graduate students, and (4) an academic unit, administrative unit, university organization or university committee. Additional information, including criteria and eligibility, as well as a link to the application may be found here. Applications are due Feb. 13. The Diversity and Inclusion Awards are administered by the Office for Equity and Diversity; contact Toya S. Jacobs, Diversity and Inclusion Program Manager, for more information at jacobst@ecu.edu or 328-6804.
Did you know?
Requiring that candidates submit a diversity statement is among the best practices for diverse hiring. The diversity statement requirement signals to candidates that diversity is important to the unit and university. In addition to the critical role of considering the knowledge, skills, and abilities, diversity statements also give the search committee the opportunity to assess whether the candidate’s commitment to diversity aligns with the unit and university’s mission to foster a diverse and inclusive environment. Careful review and assessment of the statements is important. Examples of prompts that could be used to request diversity statements as part of the applicant package as well as tips on how to assess the statements may be found on the Office for Equity and Diversity website, here.
OFFICE FOR FACULTY EXCELLENCE
Spring 2023 Active Learning & Leadership Program
Eight faculty have been selected to participate in the Spring 2023 Faculty Leadership Fellows Program. This program is made possible by the Truist Center for Leadership Development and will be led by Marina Alexander (HHP). Fellows will spend the semester with a small team to explore principles of student leadership skill development and the integration of those skills with course content and design; share ideas and feedback with one another through a Teaching Squares observation cycle; make course adjustments to enhance student leadership skill development; and share their learning through a professional development resource for colleagues. Courses addressed this fall will reach students in five colleges at the undergraduate and graduate level.
Spring 2023 Active Learning & Leadership Cohort
Nine faculty have been selected for the Spring 2023 semester Active Learning and Leadership Program. This program is made possible by the Truist Center for Leadership Development and will be led by Emily Brewer (CAHS). Participants will spend the spring semester exploring opportunities for embedding leadership capacity building into a selected course. Courses addressed will reach students ranging from first-year students to graduate-level learners.
OFFICE OF RESEARCH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & ENGAGEMENT
Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) award applications are now open. URCA awards can provide funding up to $2,000 to support faculty-mentored research and creative projects in the areas of biomedical sciences, social sciences, STEM, as well as arts and humanities. The deadline to apply is Jan. 27. Application and more details available here.
Postdoctoral Affairs
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs has announced Dr. Jamie DeWitt as its new interim director. DeWitt brings a wealth of experience and connections to Postdoctoral Affairs at ECU. She started at the university in 2008 as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Brody School of Medicine. She became a tenured associate professor in 2015 and a full professor in 2021. DeWitt has done postdoctoral training in both academia and the federal government. She has most recently served as the postdoc faculty liaison at ECU.
DeWitt said, “I’m excited to help postdocs not only get settled at ECU, but to help them develop professionally so that they can get to the next step, whatever and wherever it may be. I look forward to continuing the great foundational work that’s already been done to establish the OPA and give postdocs a voice here at ECU.”
Purple and Gold Bus Tour
ECU’s Purple and Gold Bus Tour will occur March 6-8, 2023, immersing participants in the culture, geography, heritage, economy and assets of the regions surrounding Greenville and the ECU campus. This tour encourages partnerships resulting in mutually beneficial research and scholarship for the university and community partners. In its fifth year, the bus tour continues to focus on five specific goals:
- engaging as an interdisciplinary cohort
- becoming acquainted with eastern NC
- developing research agendas based on priorities aligned with university strategics priorities and regional need, modeling the university’s commitment to student success, public service, and regional transformation
- learning about the university’s research structure, support and programs
For more information regarding this year’s tour email communityengagement@ecu.edu.
Save the date: April 27, 2023 - Purple and Gold Bus Tour Reunion. More details to come!
Public Fellows Internship Program
The SECU Public Fellows Internship program places undergraduate students throughout eastern North Carolina communities to help solve some of the region’s biggest challenges. The program provides opportunities for students to develop leadership, analytical, problem solving, communication and project management skills, while allowing them to network in professional settings.
Program Highlights for Undergrad Students:
- Earn $4,500 during the summer
- Work with local government, economic development, education, and nonprofit agencies to address community-identified priorities
- Develop leadership and project management skills
- Hybrid and in-person internships available
Know of a student who would be great for this program? Applications will be available mid-January. Internships take place mid-May to mid-August. For more information click here.
Continuing & Professional Education
Upcoming Opportunities:
- Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and Pungo Lake Guided Tour - Friday, Jan. 20, 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Members and non-members: $80
- Lifelong Learning Program, Spring Kick Off Event - Jan. 27, 1-4 p.m.
- NCCED Program - Special Winter Workshop: Engaging Best Practices in Ethics, Attraction, and Marketing & Avoiding Conflicts of Interest for Economic Developers - Feb. 2-3
National Security and Industry Initiatives
On Saturday, Dec. 17, ECU faculty, students and staff from the College of Engineering and Technology Systems and the Department of Coastal Studies participated in the inaugural Washington – Warren Air and Drone Show. This first-of-its-kind event was designed to demonstrate the safe integration of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) technology and its amazing capabilities, including a special focus on the skill sets needed in the current and future workforce. Participants included Dr. Barbara Muller-Borer, Dr. George Wang, Dr. Yilei Huang, Dr. Stu Hamilton, Dr. Mary Farwell, Michael Bore, Molina Acero, Robert Beynon Thomas, Keith Wheeler, and Jim Menke.
FACULTY SENATE
2022 - 2023 Faculty Senate meeting dates are as follows:
- Jan. 24, 2023
- Feb. 21, 2023
- 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
The College of Allied Health Science celebrated the graduation of more than 110 students with a ceremony in Wright Auditorium. Helen Houston, Occupational Therapy Clinical Specialist and Driver Rehabilitation Specialist at ECU Health, as well as an alumna from the college, joined the ceremony as guest speaker. She partners closely with the Department of Occupational Therapy to provide placement sites for students.
Laupus Library's Annual Health Sciences Author Recognition Awards recognized faculty who published books, book chapters, and journal articles within the 2021-2022 academic year. Recipients attended an evening ceremony in the TowneBank Tower at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Honored members of the college include:
- Dr. Elijah Asagbra, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services and Information Management
- Dr. Richard Baybutt, Professor in the Department of Nutrition Science
- Dr. Ashley Burch, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services and Information Management
- Dr. Martha Chapin, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies
- Dr. Anne Dickerson, Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy
- Dr. Denise Donica, Professor and Chair in the Department of Occupational Therapy
- Dr. Amy Gross McMillan, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Physical Therapy
- Dr. Susie Harris, Professor in the Department of Health Services and Information Management
- Dr. Ray Hylock, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Health Services and Information Management
- Dr. Young Kim, Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy
- Dr. Chia-Cheng Lin, Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy
- Dr. Lynne Murphy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy
- Dr. Heather Panczykowski, Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy
- Dr. Roman Pawlak, Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition Science
- Dr. Kathrin Rothermich, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Dr. Swati Surkar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy
- Dr. Marianna Walker, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Dr. Ryan Wedge, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy
ECU's Office of Global Affairs recognized the departments of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Nutrition Science with a Student Mobility Award and Virtual Exchange Award, respectively, at the International Awards Ceremony.
Dr. Patrick Briley and the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders welcomed professional basketball player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for a presentation and Q&A with students. Kidd-Gilchrist is the founder of Change & Impact, an organization that aims to improve access to health care as well as expand services and resources for individuals who experience stuttering, as he does.
The departments of Physician Assistant Studies, Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies, and Clinical Health Psychology collaborated on a student activity supported by PA's HRSA Grant. Patient actors employed by the Office of Skills and Clinical Education represented individuals with chronic pain requesting a medication refill. Interprofessional groups discussed the risks of continuing to prescribe opioids as well as alternative therapies.
Dr. Lauren Turbeville, assistant professor, and Occupational Therapy students helped evaluate older adult drivers and their vehicles during ECU Health's recent CarFit event. OTs showed participating community members how to adjust their vehicle for safer driving and made older drivers aware of any concerns they may have during 30-minute appointment sessions. Helen Houston, Pirate OT and driver rehabilitation specialist, hosted the CarFit event on behalf of ECU Health. The event was covered by WNCT and the Daily Reflector.
Tara Wind, Clinical Assistant Professor in Nutrition Science, spoke about holiday eating during a recent episode of Talk Like a Pirate, the university's periodic podcast.
Members of the Physician Assistant Studies Class of 2023 learned where the next year of training will take them during their Clinical Rotations Reveal. The cohort of 33 will participate in 10 rotations over the next 12 months in clinical settings from Charlotte to the coast.
ARTS & SCIENCES
Meredith Lin (formerly Stewart), an ECU and Harriot College alumna who earned her BA degree in English and her MA degree in multicultural and transnational literatures in 2008 and 2010, respectively, and her TESOL certificate in 2012, has been selected by the United States Department of State for a prestigious English Language Specialist virtual project focusing on “Designing Challenging Reading Comprehension, Listening, and Writing Exams for Academic Purposes” at Antonine University in Lebanon.
The Student Planners’ Action Network in Harriot College’s Department of Geography, Planning and Environment has been a responsible partner for the city of Greenville for the past five years by adopting a city street – Brownlea Drive. Student volunteers have spent various Saturday mornings picking up trash and clearing the street storm drains.
Cameron Brown, an undergraduate student majoring in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment’s community and regional planning program, participated in ECU’s SECU Public Fellows Internship Program in the Summer of 2022. Hosted by the Office of Engaged Research, the Public Fellows Internship Program connects the university and regional communities through projects that address community-identified priorities. Read more.
For more than 200 years, sailboats and fishing boats have unknowingly passed over the site of a presumed historic shipwreck off the southern coast of the island of Antigua. Now, ECU and Harriot College maritime historians, underwater archaeologists, divers and students are researching the hidden vessel in hopes of helping to confirm its identity. During the fall of 2022, Lynn Harris, a professor of history who specializes in African and Caribbean maritime history and archaeology, was invited to partner on the research project. Led by Harris, graduate students and faculty and staff from the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Department of History and program in maritime studies spent 15 days in October investigating the submerged vessel, currently referred to as the Tank Bay shipwreck. Read more.
Calvin Mercer, professor of philosophy and religious studies, has accepted an invitation to Fellow status in the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR). The ISSR recently awarded their Prize for Books Suitable for a Professional Audience, an annual award, with cash, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, to Mercer and his coauthor, Tracy Trothen, for their book, Religion and the Technological Future: An Introduction to Biohacking, Artificial Intelligence, and Transhumanism. In addition, Mercer coedits, with UK scholar Steve Fuller, Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and Its Successors, the oldest book series addressing human enhancement from all disciplines and points of view.
The Eastern Carolina Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience in collaboration with the ECU Neuroscience Program, directed by Tuan Tran (Psychology), hosted the 24th annual Neuroscience Symposium in October, which was attended by more than 140 students, faculty, and guests from UNC-CH, UNC-W, Wilson Community College, and Fayetteville State University. The keynote speaker was David Glanzman (UCLA), Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, who carried out his postdoctoral work under the mentorship of Eric Kandel (Nobel Laureate, 2000). The symposium was supported by a Biotechnology Event Sponsorship grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center to Tran, and additional support from ECU’s departments of anatomy and cell biology, kinesiology, pathology and lab medicine, and physiology.
BRODY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Telepsychiatry award
The ECU-led North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-SteP) has won the 2022 Innovation Award for technology from North Carolina’s i2i Center for Integrative Health. The award celebrates innovation in services and programs that improve approaches to health care. The i2i Center for Integrative Health convenes health care leaders to solve the most important issues affecting behavioral, intellectual and developmental disabilities and primary health care in North Carolina.
NC-STeP is based at ECU’s Center for Telepsychiatry and e-Behavioral Health and is led under the direction of Sy Saeed, professor and chair emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, executive director of NC-STeP and director of the ECU Center for Telepsychiatry and E-Behavioral Health (CTeBH). NC-SteP is overseen by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Rural Health and Community Care.
Cardiac psychology recognition
On the heels of marking its 15th year, ECU’s nationally unique postgraduate program in clinical health psychology continues to gain momentum — and national recognition— through positive patient outcomes. ECU’s doctoral program in health psychology, more specifically in cardiac psychology, is a collaboration between ECU’s departments of psychology and cardiovascular sciences that has yielded a unique program.
“This is a success story from eastern North Carolina,” said Dr. Samuel Sears, program director and professor in the departments of psychology and cardiovascular sciences. “From a national landscape, this is an extremely unique program. Only at East Carolina do you have this kind of synergized, integrated, one-for-one engagement in the training of cardiologists and the training of psychologists. Our program is intending to lead the country in this.”
Waldrum to lead council
Michael Waldrum, dean of East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine and CEO of ECU Health, assumed the role as chair of the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems (COTH) Administrative Board for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), effective Nov. 12. In addition to his chair role, Dr. Waldrum is a voting member of the AAMC Board of Directors.
Council members include CEOs, presidents and other executives who lead the AAMC’s nearly 400-member teaching hospitals and health systems. They concentrate on issues specific to academic medicine, such as demonstrating its value and societal good, financing graduate medical education, funds flow, and enterprise-wide mission alignment. Waldrum is a leading voice in advocating for policies promoting and enhancing academic health care, particularly rural academic health care.
BUSINESS
As students continue to invest time and energy into earning a business degree at ECU, a new economic impact study suggests that this investment is paying off for both students and the region. The study conducted by economists in the College of Arts and Sciences and sponsored by the Bureau of Business Research finds that ECU College of Business graduates delivered a $28.7 million economic impact in Eastern North Carolina and a $34.8 million increase in GDP across the state during the academic year 2021-22.
For more details about the COB and its graduates’ impact on eastern North Carolina, click here.
DENTAL MEDICINE
Webb completes leadership program
Dr. Michael Webb recently completed the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Leadership Institute at Northwestern University/Kellogg Graduate School of Management. The program, one of the school’s executive education programs in leadership, included a cohort of 30 pediatric dentists who participated in the immersive experience over three years that focused on various leadership topics related to leadership of self, teams and enterprise.
Webb serves as chair of the School of Dental Medicine’s Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and is a clinical associate professor. He was named last year as the school’s first Jasper L. Lewis, Jr. Distinguished Scholar in Pediatric Dentistry.
Accreditation site visit
The School of Dental Medicine’s DMD program will be undergoing its Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) site visit, slated for March 2023. CODA assesses all dental education programs sponsored by dental schools. The purpose of the site visit evaluation is to obtain in-depth information concerning the program's compliance with the accreditation standards.
Community service learning centers
A team of school administrators, including Dr. T. Rob Tempel, Dr. Harold Zald and Dr. Todd Watkins, is visiting each of the school’s eight community service learning centers to conduct training, meet with faculty and staff and ensure each center is running smoothly as part of the School of Dental Medicine’s “fifth floor of Ross Hall” across the state. The CSLC business managers and directors will be visiting Ross Hall this month for a retreat.
Delta Dental Foundation grants
Thanks to two generous grants from the Delta Dental Foundation, the ECU School of Dental Medicine will continue its efforts of providing transformational care to rural and underserved communities across the state. The combined $17,000 in grant funding supports a range of initiatives this year, including new programming to expand the school’s existing veteran care and outreach programs across eastern North Carolina.
A portion of the funds supports the purchase of an X-ray scanner for the SoDM’s Community Service Learning Center in Sylva. The equipment will replace a machine that is critically needed and will allow the clinic to easily connect patients with expansive resources through a digital records system. The remaining $10,000 is designated for two veteran care and outreach initiatives. Through the partnership with Veteran Smiles Foundation (VSF), the SoDM will hold two Smiles for Veterans’ events this fall — in Sylva and Bolivia — where qualifying and pre-screened veterans will receive free dental treatment. Funds from the grant also support the expansion of the Veteran Patient Care Fund.
EDUCATION
Educational Leadership’s Dr. Crystal Chambers was highlighted as an expert on the roles of college towns on WalletHub’s website.
ECU is the host institution for the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program, which supports beginner teachers in the field. WNCT highlighted the program as part of their Classroom Conversations series.
Dr. Al Jones was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to North Carolina Genealogy Award from the North Carolina Genealogical Society.
Dr. Jordan Bullington-Miller was awarded the 2022 Educational Leadership Glatthorn Distinguished Dissertation Award. She completed her dissertation on “A Redefinition of Self: The Design, Implementation, and Impact of a Career Exploration Course for Students on Academic Probation.”
During the fall semester, 46 College of Education students traveled to New York City for an enrichment experience. They explored Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, toured the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and attended a live Broadway showing of Disney’s "Aladdin."
The Master’s in Library Science program has a new faculty member/associate professor, Dr. Vanessa Irvin, who is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI). The fall 2022 issue is now available. With Irvin as editor, the journal is now affiliated with ECU, and MLS master’s student Caitlin Ann McCann serves as the journal’s research assistant fellow. At present, the IJIDI is indexed by DOAJ, JSTOR, and SCOPUS.
McClammy Counseling and Research Lab celebrates 10 years
The McClammy Counseling and Research Laboratory (MCRL) is celebrating 10 years at ECU. The MCRL is housed within the Counselor Education program (College of Education) and serves ECU and the larger community offering high quality, in-person individual and group counseling services. These services are supported through an endowment gifted in memory of William Charles McClammy, alumnus of the COE. The MCRL is proud to share the following collaborations and programming:
The MCRL partnered with The Military & Veteran Resource Center to deliver a Mental Health 101 presentation. The MCRL also offered Yoga/Meditation/Mindfulness Groups co-facilitated by Dr. Jason Perry, MCRL director, along with Emily Sutherland, counselor education graduate student and certified yoga instructor. “Homesick” was a support group offered for students who were struggling with adjustment and being away from home. This group was offered weekly in October and was co-designed and co-led by Tyler Vu, counselor education graduate student, and Perry. Drop-in groups (topics: stress management, organization/time management) were offered weekly in the month of October. No commitment is required for the drop-in groups and they will resume this month at Ragsdale Room 120. To stay updated on all the great happenings and services offered, find the MCRL online or Engage and follow on social media: Instagram: @ecumcclammylab.
ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
From health and the environment to manufacturing and defense, the Department of Engineering Capstone Symposium showcased student work on a variety of projects. Engineering students must complete a senior capstone project as part of their graduation requirements, but when analyzing their work during the symposium, many noted the importance and impact the projects may have on the region and nation, making their work much more meaningful. Read more here.
Engineering students received two awards during the International Forum on Research Excellence. Graduate student Michael Trapani, and undergraduates Danielle Werts and Mina Akhnoukh have been working with assistant professors Dr. Kurabachew Duba and Dr. Jinbo Chen on a supercritical water desalination project. During the forum sponsored by the scientific research honor society Sigma Xi, the ECU team received awards in the top graduate poster and the interdisciplinary research poster categories. Read more here.
Josh Pitzer, the director of lab operations for the College of Engineering and Technology, was among those who received a 2022 Treasured Pirate Award for outstanding contributions to ECU. Pitzer was recognized for his support of teaching, research and outreach, and multiple cross-college initiatives. He was the lead technical developer for the Isley Innovation Hub and prepared labs and offices in the new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building. Allison Winters, a former CET academic advisor now with the College of Business, also received a Treasured Pirate Award. Read more here.
FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION
School of Art and Design
Work by SoAD students Emily Booker (MFA Metal Design), Kimberly Cusack (BFA Painting), and Zaria Richardson (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in the "Thinking through Making: NCMA College Exhibition," Nov. 18–Feb. 10, at the North Carolina Museum of Art, co-curated by Emily Howard and SoAD faculty Scott Eagle.
Jenni K. Kolczynski (BFA Metal Design) known as Jenni K. Jeweler started making jewelry in Pennsylvania as an art student. The cold weather there drove her to the South, where she enrolled in the metals program at East Carolina University. Her story, interviewed by Shannon Baker, was featured in a recent segment broadcast on WNCT.
School of Communication
Taiyana Hill (BS '19 Communication) is one of the streaming producer and editors for the recently launched 24/7 news platform, WRAL News +, managing all programming tasks required for the platform to broadcast flawlessly. Hill is from Raleigh and started at WRAL TV as a News Production Assistant the fall following her graduation in spring 2019.
As the talent acquisition coordinator for Hyster-Yale Group, Gabrielle Whitlock (BS ‘18 Communication), supports recruitment by coordinating interviews, administering assessments, and building talent pools. Whitlock works with the internal communications team to assemble recruitment marketing strategies, assets, and messages on the company website, social media, and recruiting platforms.
School of Music
Music and merriment started the holiday season at East Carolina University with performances of TubaChristmas, led by Jarrod Williams and featuring traditional holiday songs arranged for a large ensemble of tubas, baritones, euphoniums and sousaphones. Any musician who plays baritone, euphonium, sousaphone or tuba was invited to perform in TubaChristmas with a donation to benefit the Harvey Phillips Foundation.
The N.C. Broadcast Legend project features leading North Carolina broadcast leaders telling their stories from early years through the progression of their career as only they can tell. The project is designed to preserve the historical facts and stories from the rich and significant history and contributions in North Carolina. Carroll V. Dashiell Jr. is a North Carolina Trailblazer, recognized for excellence in the music industry as a bassist, musical director, and composer/arranger. The Story of Carroll V. Dashiell Jr., Bassist, Composer/Arranger, Educator will air at 8 p.m. on Jan. 10 on PBS.
School of Theatre and Dance
New York-based actress Kristin Wetherington (BFA Theatre and Dance) enjoyed a homecoming of sorts in June when she returned to her alma mater as one of the stars of ECU Summer Theatre’s “Mamma Mia.” She also performed in a Christmas concert in Washington, N.C. “Home for the Holidays” reunited the Greenville native with several members of the “Mamma Mia” cast for a holiday showcase at the historic Turnage Theatre. Wetherington, a Harvard graduate with several Off-Broadway, film and television credits to her name, was joined by ECU Musical Theatre program coordinator Jessica Doyle-Mekkes and more than half a dozen students for the performance.
Dirk Lumbard, SoTD tap professor, performed in Casa Manaña's production of "A Christmas Carol" in Fort Worth, Texas. After Dallas was selected to be the site of the official Texas Centennial Celebration in 1936, Amon G. Carter began making plans for a celebration in Fort Worth that would rival it. Several acres of farmland were to become a midway of exhibits, sideshows, a Wild West show and a musical circus. At the center of the complex was to be a large, outdoor amphitheater and restaurant called Casa Mañana, “The House of Tomorrow.”
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Research and Creative Activity Week 2023 will be April 3-6 & April 10
Student submissions are being accepted now. The Graduate School and Research, Economic Development, and Engagement continue to plan the annual Research and Creative Achievement Week (RCAW). It will include in-person podium presentations, performances, showcases, and poster sessions as well as virtual posters featuring the research and creative activities of our undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral scholars from across campus.
Now is the time for undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to submit their presentations by Feb. 15. All information on how to submit is on the RCAW website. Any questions can be sent to the co-coordinators of the event. Graduate students should contact Faculty Fellow Dr. Michelle F. Eble at eblem@ecu.edu. Undergraduate students should contact Director of Undergraduate Research Dr. Tuan Tran trant@ecu.edu.
HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Dr. Dina Al-Dajani, assistant professor in the Department of Interior Design and Merchandising, was awarded the designation of WELL Faculty by the International WELL Building Institute. WELL Faculty is a global network of WELL experts who have demonstrated relevant subject matter experience and WELL project experience; and maintain passion for advancing the WELL movement through best-in-class education.
Brian Cavanaugh, Paige Irons, Dewey Pickett, Molly Tripp and Kelsey White were nominated by one or more of their students who reside in Campus Living as instructors who have made a significant impact on the educational experience. They were recognized as Honored Instructors by Campus Living. Also, Russell was nominated and received the Treasured Pirate Award.
Dr. Guy Iverson, an assistant professor of environmental health in the Department of Health Education and Promotion, led ECU to securing $175,001 in funding to support environmentally sustainable animal agricultural practices in eastern North Carolina. An aim is to improve water quality in the Cape Fear River Basin. More information is available here.
This student professional development video is part of an Adobe grant in which Master of Social Work student Zaye Massey created a product which will be used for other classes and projects. Massey uses the video to market her professional aspirations and her passion in the field of social work.
HONORS
The Honors College’s Ocean Explorations seminar, taught by Dr. Ewa Silver, had the opportunity to visit the Queen Anne’s Revenge laboratory and try out scuba diving in the Minges pool as part of their class experience.
A group of Honors students created an Honors seminar class focusing on STEM majors, politics and civic engagement as their Signature Honors Project. The purpose of this class is to increase civic engagement in STEM majors, since research shows that they are less likely to vote than their non-STEM peers. Read more about their class here.
Three EC Scholar alumni — Jessica Jewell, Mary Stuart Peaks, and Sarah Searcy — made the 40 Under 40 Class of 2023.
Current EC Scholars sponsored families at the ECU Community School during the holiday season in their annual Toys for Joy fundraiser and were able to get each child’s entire Christmas wish list.
This fall, our EC Scholars enrolled in HNRS 3100, the EC Scholar Research Internship, worked with the current cohort of Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy. They completed their final presentations in December. Learn more here.
INTEGRATED COASTAL PROGRAMS
Dr. David Lagomasino (Coastal Studies) and a team of NASA scientists recently published a report on the rate of salt marsh loss around the world. Using over 1 million satellite images collected across the globe, the team developed specialized algorithms to extract information on the annual presence and absence of salt marshes. Over the last 20 years, salt marshes have disappeared at a rate of two soccer fields per hour. The majority of these losses in salt marsh occurred in Russia and the United States. One interesting fact was that a significant cause of salt marsh loss was a result of tropical storms.
Additionally, Lagomasino and two students from his research team presented their research at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in Chicago, a national conference with over 20,000 scientists in attendance. Sonnet Xu, a high school student, presented her research on the combined effects of drought and cyclones on coastal wetlands. Madeline Kronebusch, a recent NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate student (hosted through Dr. Stephen Moysey, Geology), presented her research rapidly measuring the effects of tropical cyclones using satellite imagery.
Drs. Mike O’Driscoll (Dept. of Coastal Studies) and Charlie Humphrey (Dept. of Health Education and Promotion) presented their work on “Tipping Points: Onsite Wastewater Treatment and Climate Change” at the South Carolina Marine Resources Research Institute in Charleston, South Carolina on Dec. 14. This workshop included S.C. and N.C. Sea Grant and coastal community leaders and educators. ECU and NCSU researchers shared recent research completed on the growing influence of climate-related impacts on onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) in coastal North and South Carolina. Their team’s work on groundwater inundation of coastal septic systems was recently featured in the December issue of the Association of State Floodplain Managers National Newsletter. For more information click here.
Dr. Lin Xiong (postdoctoral scholar, Coastal Studies), along with Dr. David Lagamasino, Amanda Payton (Coastal Studies Institute) and Integrated Coastal Sciences Ph.D. student Shalimar Moreno, has begun shoreline surveys of south Nags Head using lidar. Their work is part of a mini-grant award from N.C. Sea Grant to study the impacts of dune restoration on coastal resilience in North Carolina.
Trip Taylor and Spencer Wilkinson from the Muglia Lab at the Coastal Studies Institute worked with NCSU collaborators Kenneth Granlund, Mathew Bryant, Saurabh Agrawal, and Aditya Varanwal in December to tow test a coaxial turbine behind CSI. The project receives funding from the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program. The yawed coaxial turbine is a robust design to provide electricity or desalinated water from ocean or tidal currents. It is yawed so that fresh current flow exists on both counter rotating turbines. The turbines counter rotate to eliminate torque on the device.
Dr. David Griffith (Coastal Studies, Anthropology) chaired an oral and poster session, Environmental changes and human migration: Advances in modeling and analysis, at the American Geophysical Union in Chicago in December. Despite recent advances in linking environmental changes and human migration, many issues remain unresolved, e.g., establishing causal linkages among different determining the two-way interactions between migration and the environment, and developing an integrative theory and predictive problem is decidedly transdisciplinary; as such, session organizers sought contributions from a wide range of disciplines including: sociology, public policies, economics, hydrology, ecology, climate modeling, coupled natural-human modeling, and the like.
Integrated Coastal Sciences Ph.D. student Samantha Farquhar recently mentored high school student Victoria Farella and helped her to publish an article, “Microplastics: A Not So Micro Problem- Prevalence in a North Carolina Freshwater System,” in Volume 4 - Issue 5 of the International Journal of High School Research.
Dr. Reide Corbett (Coastal Studies) co-authored a paper in Quaternary Science Reviews. The paper used proxy reconstructions to investigate late Holocene (last ~3000 years) relative sea-level changes in southern New England. A new sea level record for Rhode Island shows a 3.7-meter rise since 1200 BC. The study also found that the fastest century-scale rate of sea-level rise in at least the past 3000 years was 1.71 ± 0.84 mm/yr during the most recent 100-year period.
JOYNER LIBRARY
Several main campus library staff members volunteered in a transcribathon event, co-sponsored by the State Library of NC, the Smithsonian and Sheppard Memorial Library, to transcribe the Freedmen's Bureau Records from North Carolina. The portal to search these records is now live and will help make valuable resources more accessible to researchers.
Members of our Engagement & Outreach Division spent part of December creating year in review content. Check out this By The Numbers look at the library (photo attached) and the full year in review project can be viewed here.
Ashley M. Moore, head of ALS Administrative Services department, was selected as a member of the 2023 Leadership Development Academy cohort.
Academic Library Services associate professor David M. Durant is the new chair of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries’ Collaborative Federal Depository Program Oversight Committee. His three-year term began this month.
Pet therapy was again part of our exam slam programming. Thank you to the friendly and comforting dogs who were available to help students relax during the stressful time of exams.
LAUPUS HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY
Medical History Interest Groups
The MHIG lectures promote a greater understanding of the historical and philosophical underpinnings of today’s health care disciplines. The lectures are part of the Ruth and John Moskop Lecture Series and are also sponsored by Laupus Library History Collections & the Department of Bioethics & Interdisciplinary Studies. Visit the website to learn more about the individual events. All lectures are held at the 4th floor Evelyn Fike Laupus Gallery of the Laupus Library (except where noted) and are also offered virtually.
The schedule for 2023 covers topics including the country doctor and early medical practices, 19th century alternative medicines and discussions on artifacts as part of the Museum of Medical History and Innovation.
Virtual Reality Lab
Use of the Virtual Reality Lab at Laupus Library continues to grow in demand. The lab The VR Lab is a virtual reality learning and development workspace that includes five state of the art virtual reality workstations and is available to ECU students, staff and faculty. The lab is located on the second floor of the library past the computer lab. The lab also offers virtual reality headsets for personal loan. Lab hours and schedule are listed here.
NURSING
National Clinician Scholar
Dr. Stephanie Hart, a fixed term faculty member in the baccalaureate education department and a May 2022 graduate of the College of Nursing PhD program, has been selected as one of two Duke National Clinician Scholars Program (NCSP) scholars for the 2023-2025 cohort. Duke University is one of six sites across the nation that provides training for physicians and post-doctoral nurses to become change agents driving policy-relevant research and partnerships to improve health and health care. The goal of the NCSP is to cultivate health equity, eliminate health disparities, invent new models of care and achieve higher quality health care at a lower cost by training nurse and physician – which all support the College of Nursing’s mission to improve rural health care in North Carolina.
“I’m particularly excited about the opportunity to engage with other scholars in the NCSP network but also with Granville-Vance Public Health – it was a perfect match for me,” Hart said.
Serving the community
Members of the East Carolina Association of Nursing Students collected and donated food to the United Community Ministries Nov. 18, in time for Thanksgiving. Olivia Dardis, Margaret Hinson, Brett Huffman, Precious Omyeabo, Shayne Rowe and Lylian Treece are fourth-semester students who graduated last month. They completed their community health clinical rotations in Nash County at different locations including school health, occupational health, at a cancer center and cardiac rehab.
Caiola research and award
Dr. Courtney Caiola’s research into how health care providers can better communicate with HIV positive women, particularly minorities and those in rural settings, was highlighted by ECU News. Caiola, an assistant professor of nursing, is working with research partners from Vanderbilt and Temple universities on a three-phase study: one-on-one interviews with HIV-positive women in rural areas, surveys with a wider cohort of HIV positive women and then focus group studies, all with the goal of determining how health care providers can better communicate with women living with HIV. Caiola and her research partners are working to learn how to break down erroneous stereotypes about living with HIV that plague rural and minority communities, which contributes to the continuing spread of the virus.
Caiola was also selected for the 2022-2023 Scholar-Teacher Faculty Award. Caiola has master’s degrees in public and international health and a doctorate from Duke University. Herresearch focuses on empowering women to overcome health inequities and encourage those living with HIV. She teaches graduate-level nursing courses focusing on research and scholarship.
CON sponsors animal therapy event
Study after study shows that interaction with dogs and cats helps decrease stress hormones and releases those that promote feelings of well-being. The same can be said for horses, which ECU nursing instructor Susan Lally knows well, prompting her to bring two of her miniature horses to campus during finals week to interact with Health Sciences students. The horses — Annie and Eddie — are true Pirates, named for the infamous outlaws Anne Bonny and Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard. The horses were joined by Snow, the College of Nursing Dean Bim Akintade’s dog, to bring smiles to the faces of nursing, allied health sciences and dental students between exams.
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