Noteworthy

Diane Sanders, a graduate student in the Higher Education Leadership program at Widener University, recently had an essay, titled Supporting Black and Latina Single Mother College Students, published in the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice. The essay called for higher education administrators to focus on the development of an effective system of support for Black and Latina single mother college students.

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Widener University professors in the Center for Education’s Community Engaged Teacher Education (CETE) program collaborated to write Chapter 4 Shared Power in Teacher Preparation: University, School, and Community in a recently published book, titled The Power of Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation. 
 
The chapter was written by Professor Nadine McHenry, who coordinates the CETE program, as well as Director of the Widener Child Development Center Essence Allen-Presley, Associate Professor Bretton Alvaré, retired Stetser Elementary Principal Janet Baldwin, alumna Rev. Hilda Campbell, and alumna Taylor Borgstrom.
 
The book focuses on how and why community-engaged teacher preparation is a vital approach to address an educational system that his historically deficient, discriminatory, and inequitable.

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The School of Nursing was awarded approximately $180,000 by the Health Resources and Services Administration to participate in the Nurse Faculty Loan Program for the third consecutive year. The federally funded program contributes to increasing the number of qualified nurse educators in higher education by offering loan assistance for students who enroll in Widener’s graduate nursing education degree programs for the purposes of starting careers as nurse faculty. This initiative was developed as a response to provide financial incentives for nursing students to continue on to an advanced nursing degree program and graduate into the role of a nurse faculty.

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The Widener Community Nursing Clinic earned a Gold Rating from the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics Quality Standards Program for its delivery of high-quality care to underinsured and uninsured members of the community. 
 
This is the second year that the clinic has received this national recognition for its continued delivery of reliable, pro bono health care to maintain both individual and community health.
 
Widener congratulates Ellen Boyda, clinic director, and the nursing student and alumni volunteers who contributed to this well-deserved achievement. 

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has renewed its support of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) with a $17 million grant over 5 years to operate the NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center. Dr. Paul Baker, an assistant professor of physics at Widener University, is partially funded by this award as a member of NANOGrav.

The NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center will address a transformational challenge in astrophysics: the detection and characterization of low-frequency gravitational waves. The most promising sources of low-frequency gravitational waves are supermassive binary black holes that form via the mergers of massive galaxies. 

NANOGrav was founded in 2007 and is now a highly-distributed collaboration with around 200 students and scientists at about 40 institutions around the world. Dr. Baker has been a member of NANOGrav since 2016.

For more information, visit NANOGrav’s website at: https://nanograv.org/

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/physics-professor-partially-funded-national-science-foundation-grant-nanograv

Dr. Mark Nicosia, professor of mechanical engineering, was appointed to the position of associate dean of the School of Engineering. Dr. Nicosia, who previously chaired the department of mechanical engineering, will oversee academic affairs and external relations in this new role. A member of the engineering faculty since 2005, Professor Nicosia's research focuses on computational and experimental analysis of physiological systems, particularly the gastrointestinal system. In 2019, Professor Nicosia was named Distinguished University Professor, an award that recognizes faculty members of distinction and demonstrates how Widener is committed to recognizing excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

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Widener University presented the William David Eckard, Jr. Award for Distinguished Service to Michelle “Micki” Meekins-Davis ‘03, the chief diversity officer and director of multicultural affairs in the President’s Office, and Mary Anne Wood, an administrative assistant in the Office of Student Success.

This annual award, presented by President Julie E. Wollman, recognizes two longstanding employees for their commitment and outstanding service to the Widener community. William David Eckard III, former long-time vice president of administration and finance at Widener University and a 1966 graduate of Pennsylvania Military College, established the award in memory of his father, William David Eckard, Jr.

Micki Davis is a longtime, well-respected member of the Widener and broader regional communities. She has served as a leader for multicultural, cultural competence, social justice, equity, and diversity-related programs and workshops for students, faculty, and staff.

Mary Anne Wood has provided outstanding service to Widener students and employees since she first arrived on campus in 2007. She supports the work of all of the departments within the Office of Student Success and is a great proponent for each student’s success.

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The Board of Directors for the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE) recently recognized Professor Jeff Lolli’s work with the Northeast/North America (NENA) Federation chapter of ICHRIE with the McCool Breakthrough Award. The McCool Breakthrough Award honors the spirit of astronaut Willie McCool and is given to an individual, group, program, school, college, association, or corporation that has made a significant breakthrough or introduced a unique approach in the spirit of ICHRIE’s mission. 

The award recognized the Eta Sigma Delta (ESD) Honor Society Board of Governors and Lolli as co-chair for creating a first ever virtual conference for ESD honor society students. The first-of-its-kind conference theme was ‘Hospitality Strong: Resetting the Industry’ and focused on professional development for students, as well as education on how the decimated hospitality and tourism industry is resilient and how the industry pivoted during the pandemic.

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/professor-jeff-lollis-work-creating-virtual-conference-recognized-mccool-breakthrough-award

Kandy Turner, director of International Student Services and Study Abroad Programs at Widener, has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award. She will share her knowledge to help Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Colombia become a model in Latin America for international, experience-based learning in teaching, research, and outreach.

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/kandy-turner-receives-fulbright-specialist-program-award

Sagine Bien-Aime, a student in the doctor of nursing science program, was named the recipient of the PhD Scholarship by the Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania (NAP). Since 1991, the NAP, a statewide, non-profit organization, focused on recognizing exemplary nursing practice, and granting scholarships to students pursuing degrees in nursing at all levels, has been awarded scholarships to nurses across the state to recruit and retain nursing professionals. Bien-Aime will be honored with the award at the 32nd annual Awards Gala in October 2021. 

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Stephanie Jeffers, associate professor of nursing, was recognized in the 2021 Region’s Talented Top Nurses list by Main Line Today in the category of education. Jeffers, who serves as director the pre-licensure undergraduate programs, was nominated by her peers through an online ballot ahead of a thorough editorial vetting and confirmation process. 

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University Archivist and Librarian Jill Borin was named to the board of directors of the Philadelphia-Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL). The thirty-four member libraries and archives of PACSCL collect, care for, and share with a world-wide audience collections that, in their depth and variety, comprise an internationally important body of unique materials for students, scholars and lifelong learners at any level.

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Physical therapy graduate Michael Quintans '14 writes about his experience enduring the closures and hurdles caused by COVID-19 and how he used the pandemic to shift his mindset to grow as a clinician and leader in his practice. His article was published in the May 2021 issue of Impact, the private practice publication of the American Physical Therapy Association. 

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Professor Janine Utell, chair of English, edited the book, "Teaching Modernist Women's Writing in English". The essays in the volume explore formal aspects and thematic concerns of modernism while also challenging rigid notions of what constitutes literary value as well as the idea of a canon with fixed boundaries.

The essays contextualize modernist women's writing in the material and political concerns of the early twentieth century and in life on the home front during wartime. They consider the original print contexts of the works and propose fresh digital approaches for courses ranging from high school through graduate school. Suggested assignments provide opportunities for students to write creatively and critically, recover forgotten literary works, and engage with their communities.

The book will be available for purchase on July 1, 2021 and was published by Modern Language Association of America.

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The Widener University Faculty Scholarship, an endowment funded primarily by faculty donations, recognizes the outstanding academic achievements of undergraduate students in and outside the classroom. Nominees are selected from each school and college in their junior year and are awarded funds to assist with their tuition in their senior year. 

The 2021-2022 awardees are:

Hannah Berard, Alana Fitchett (College of Health and Human Services)

Erin Coffey, Madeline Dutterer, Samantha Mendelson (College of Arts and Sciences)

Angelina Franceschini, Camryn Samuel, Kathleen Sorah (School of Nursing)
 
Nicholas Lubeck, Michael Oravic (School of Engineering)
 
Sarah McFarland, Danielle Mininno (School of Business Administration)

Those who are interested in supporting the Faculty Scholarship, can go to https://give.widener.edu/give/make-gift and indicate 'Faculty Scholarship' for gift designation. 

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Assistant Professor of Chemistry Hongwei Yang has been awarded nearly $5,000 from the Penn State Materials Research Facilities Network, which is part of a nationwide partnership with the National Science Foundation, to support faculty-student research on the project "Design novel metal-organic frameworks for non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose senor." Working with undergraduate students, Dr. Yang is conducting research to advance the development of low-cost, reliable non-enzymatic glucose sensors for people with diabetes.

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Associate Professor of Chemistry Andrea Martin was awarded a $13,000 grant from the Oiled Wildlife Care Network to continue her research with undergraduate students. Dr. Martin and her students, in partnership with Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, have been testing detergents to determine which is most effective for cleaning oil from the feathers of birds.

Read more about the research: https://www.widener.edu/news/news-archive/birds-eye-view-summer-research-students-test-detergents-save-wildlife-affected-oil-spills

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Assistant Librarian Roz Goldstein presented on the topic "Using Mobile Worklists for Limited Contact Weeding" at the annual Innovative Users' Group (IUG) conference on March 22, 2021. Presenting to an international membership, Goldstein shared the library's experience of using the Sierra library system’s Mobile Worklist application to support a workflow that allowed the library to continue with its collections maintenance project while mostly working remotely from home during the pandemic.  

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Professor Jeffrey Lolli recently co-authored an article, entitled 'Evaluating the Use of Sense of Place as a Business Strategy in the Marketing and Promotion of Craft Beverage Tourism,' in the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Cases. The article highlighted the use sense of place as a business strategy in the marketing and promotion of craft beverage tourism for one New Jersey brewery through the lens of the Multidisciplinary Framework for Place-Conscious Education. The case will help educate students/future craft beverage entrepreneurs/educators on the challenges of an increasingly competitive craft beverage business environment.

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Graduate and Continuing Studies Associate Dean Janelle Williams, Ed.D. co-authored a report, entitled "Presidents and and their Strategies to Build Partnerships at HBCUs." 

This report was developed by Zachary C. Brown of Purdue University, Williams, and Levon T. Esters of Purdue University, and was co-sponsored by brightspot strategy and the second of a three-part "Year of Leadership" Series in The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice.

The report emphasizes the importance of successful partnerships between Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other institutions, industries, and community partners.

According to the report, HBCUs have been historically disadvantaged when compared to their Predominantly White Institution (PWI) counterparts. State and federal governments disproportionately support and provide funding to PWIs as compared to HBCUs. 

Report findings conclude that while some partnerships and leadership practices are distinct to particular institutions, commonalities are present as well. These include prioritizing student and community needs. Each university president discussed diverse criteria when choosing partners, but they all kept institutional and student success in mind as they engage partners. 

The report can be accessed here: https://proctor.gse.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/MSIreportFeb21_R4.pdf

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