Noteworthy

Thomas Wilk, assistant teaching professor of philosophy, has been selected from a competitive pool of applicants to take part in the Council of Independent College’s (CIC) New Currents in Teaching Philosophy Institute in July 2023. 

This program, funded by The Mellon Foundation, is designed for philosophy faculty to attend, collaborate, and bring new knowledge and skills back to their classrooms. As part of the institute, attending faculty will also receive a grant to support new curricular activities at their own institutions.

Dr. Wilk is most interested in learning how to grow philosophy at Widener to make it more interdisciplinary as he sees great potential for collaboration between philosophy and many other programs. 

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Widener University’s Child Development Center (WCDC) has won Gold for the 2023 Equity in Early Childhood Education from the Office of Child Development and Early Learning. The award was announced during a visit by President Stacey Robertson, where she read "The Paperbag Princess" to the children.

This award recognizes early childhood education programs and professionals for their commitment to Pennsylvania children through embracing diversity, upholding the principles of fairness and justice, and working to eliminate structural inequities that limit equitable learning opportunities. 

"This award highlights The Widener Child Development Center's commitment to ensuring every child receives a nurturing, loving, and well-rounded educational experience throughout their time at the WCDC,” said WCDC Director Alicia Vaux. “The WCDC is proud to be a pillar within the community acknowledging and celebrating children and their families.” 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/child-development-center-wins-gold-equity-early-childhood-education

Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing Jessica Guzman, Assistant Professor of English Christine Woody, and Assistant Professor of Sociology Jennifer Padilla Wyse have been invited to participate in Swarthmore College’s Humanities Leadership Development Program. 

This program is designed for faculty in the humanities and will provide facilitated discussions, guest speakers, case studies, and more for faculty from Widener and select other Philadelphia-area colleges and universities. The goal is to support faculty in growing their leadership skills and continuing to step into leadership roles within their institutions. The experience is funded by a grant from The Mellon Foundation, a known advocate for humanities and the arts.

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/three-humanities-faculty-invited-join-summer-leadership-development-program

Jeremy Hancher, EMAP Program Manager for Widener’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and adjunct professor in the School of Business Administration, has been nominated by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to serve as the state’s official representative on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

In the nomination, Governor Shapiro recognized Hancher for his over 15 years of experience working for the Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP) in southeastern Pennsylvania and within the SBDC. He also currently serves as an advisory panel member of the MAFMC. 

Hancher notes that he brings these experiences into his teaching to try and share sustainability insights with undergraduate business students in his classes. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/widener-sbdc-staff-member-nominated-mid-atlantic-fishery-management-council-pa-governor

Associate Professor of social work Marina Barnett has been awarded the Legion of Honor Award from the Chapel of Four Chaplains for her commitment to, and continued work with, the Chester community during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Legion of Honor Award is one of the highest honors given by the Chapel of Four Chaplains. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional selfless service on the part of an individual which contributes to the well-being of his or her community, and to a spirit of interfaith cooperation. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/social-work-faculty-recognized-commitment-community-work-through-pandemic

Teresa Lamarra, director of the Center for Simulation, has been chosen to participate in the 2023 National League for Nursing (NLN) Leadership Institute. The highly competitive program offers dual professional leadership development tracks for nurses in education and practice. Lamarra will participate in the Leadership Development Program for Simulation Educators, which is designed for the experienced simulation nurse educator who aspires to a leadership role in simulation. Sim Leadership track participants focus on maximizing their leadership potential to advance simulation initiatives in nursing education and practice. As part of the yearlong program, Lamarra will attend the Intensive Leadership Retreat this summer in Washington, D.C. as well as the 2023 NLN Education Summit, Extraordinary Nurse Educators: Leading Extraordinary Times, in the fall. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/nursing-professor-selected-2023-nln-leadership-institute

Professor James May from Delaware Law School and Commonwealth Professor of Environmental Law and Sustainability John C. Dernbach from the Commonwealth Law School have been recognized by the 2023 Lawdragon Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law for their environmental advocacy efforts. Lawdragon Green 500 features attorneys who are fighting to protect the environment and help clients participate in more sustainable business practices. Those practices range from helping businesses develop properties that are facing environmental challenges to finding insurance coverage for environmental liabilities.  
 
May is the founder of the Global Environmental Rights Institute, and co-Founder of the Dignity Rights Project and the Environmental Rights Institute at Delaware Law. He has previously directed the school’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic. Dernbach directs the Environmental Law and Sustainability Center at Widener Law Commonwealth. He has written over 50 peer reviewed articles and journals and has co-authored and authored over 20 chapters on law and environmental law.
 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/node/29656

-- Compiled by Zora DeSeignora '23

Biology Professor David Coughlin has been awarded the Cynthia H. Sarnoski Faculty Fellowship award to support his research focused on climate change and wild brook trout. This is the second time Coughlin has been the recipient of this award, which will run from July 2023 through June 2025.

“The future of biological systems, upon which humans depend, is imperiled by climate change. My laboratory uses multiple experimental approaches to examine how changes in the environment affect the physiological performance of a given organism,” Coughlin explained.

Coughlin works together with Widener students to examine the impact of rising temperatures due to climate change on muscle function in brook trout. Working in the lab, the team has found a strong physiological response to a warming environment in a controlled setting. In the past year, Coughlin has begun analyzing wild, native brook trout populations across the state of Pennsylvania. 

“This study aims to bring data together from throughout the year to determine how wild trout are responding to changing environmental temperatures,” says Coughlin. “We hope to gain insights that will contribute to management of threatened brook trout populations.”

The Sarnoski Fellowship supports science faculty through a generous gift made by Cynthia H. Sarnoski, who serves as vice chair of Widener’s Board of Trustees. Sarnoski graduated from Widener in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She is a retired senior vice president for Global Compliance and Quality Systems for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/biology-professor-receives-cynthia-h-sarnoski-faculty-fellowship-continue-climate-change-research

Associate Professor of Biology Janice Krumm is the recipient of over $143,000 from the National Science Foundation to continue a multi-year project aimed at making undergraduate research more accessible for students. This is the fourth grant that this project has received, bringing the total funding to nearly $2 million of which nearly half has been awarded directly to Widener. 

Krumm served as primary investigator for the first three awards and is now collaborating with additional researchers from George Washington University, Texas Tech University, Westfield State University, and Anoka-Ramsey Community College. The project has been focused on creating Course Based Undergraduate Research (CURE) classes which utilize a newly created online database of natural history resources that are free and available for use by students across the country. 

This new funding will:

• Support recruitment and training of more faculty nationwide to implement accessible CURE strategies into their classrooms
• Allow researchers, like Dr. Krumm, to assess the effectiveness of these new practices using newly designed research instruments
• Provide funding to support students participating in these CURE courses to attend national conferences to present their research. Dr. Krumm estimates that nearly 100 students will be able to attend and present their work over the next 3 years. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/biology-faculty-receives-continued-national-science-foundation-funding

Erika Evans-Weaver, Widener alum and adjunct faculty in the Center for Human Sexuality Studies, has been named Vice Chair for the State Board of Social Workers, Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists for Pennsylvania. 

Additionally, she has been elected as a board member for the Marriage and Family Therapists Regulatory Board, which creates and manages the licensure exam for Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) across the United States and assists in MFT-related legislation.

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/human-sexuality-faculty-named-state-and-national-leadership-boards

Janelle West, interim dean for Graduate and Continuing Studies, is featured in the Rutgers University visiting scholars report for her ongoing contributions to the program. To qualify, a visiting scholar must be interested in minority serving institutions (MSI)- related and/or higher education leadership and equity focused research. 

West is investigating “college choice and enrollment patterns at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), contemporary approaches to address challenges facing HBCU enrollment, and the experiences of Black women in higher education through critical qualitative inquiry. Most recently, Janelle served as Co-PI on a national study that focused on the experiences of Black students at HBCUs during the Black Lives Matter Movement.”

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/faculty-examines-hbcus-visiting-scholar

Professor of Political Science Wes Leckrone has co-edited a newly released book, “Teaching Federalism: Multidimensional Approaches” which “presents innovative ideas for teaching a wide variety of key concepts of federalism and federal-country cases.”

The book is open access and free to read, download, and share. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/political-science-faculty-co-editor-new-open-access-book

Karol M. Wasylyshyn, former vice chair of the board of trustees who served as an adjunct faculty member in the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology, was named the winner of the 2022 Elliott Jaques Memorial Publication Award presented by the Consulting Psychology Journal editorial review board. The award recognizes published articles that put an emphasis on applying the discipline of psychology to solve significant issues faced by contemporary organizations. Wasylyshyn was recognized for her publication "The "Art" of Executive Coaching at the Top: Using Clients' Self-Imagery as a Tool for High Impact."

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A collaborative paper featuring Professor of Biology David Coughlin and student Emma Wilcock has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The paper features authors from across the globe, including Coughlin and Wilcock. 

The paper, “Metabolic reprogramming underlies cavefish muscular endurance despite loss of muscle mass and contractility,” discusses research done to analyze the skeletal muscle physiology of the Mexican cavefish. 

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Affiliate librarian and assistant archivist Kayla Van Osten has published an article with the Pennsylvania Library Association’s College & Research Division. The article, “Librarian-Student Connections,” discusses student interactions in the library setting. Particularly, interactions between students and librarians during information literacy sessions and other library-hosted classes. She shares how reframing her thinking around a particular interaction with a student can improve the quality of future interactions for both students and library staff. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/library-faculty-writes-about-librarian-student-interactions-pa-library-association

Professor Yvonne Antonucci recently attended the Hawai’i International Conference on System Sciences to present research that she has conducted in collaboration with Salisbury University. 

Antonucci represented her collaborators at the conference, presenting their work entitled “Engaging Business Students with ‘Low-Code’ Model Driven Development: Self-Efficacy Beliefs in an Introductory MID Course.”

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A collaborative research project between associate professor Babatunde Odusami and Omokolade Akinsomi from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa has been chosen to receive funding from The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program. This grant funds partnership projects between African-born scholars and higher education institutions in Africa. 

Odusami and Akinsomi’s project, entitled “Development of Pan African Real Estate Database and Co-Curriculum Development and Mentorship in Machine Learning Competencies for Real Estate Research,” will work to develop real estate knowledge and research capacities in Africa. 

Odusami will spend a month during the summer of 2023 in Africa working with Akinsomi and graduate students at the University of Witwatersrand. The two researchers will also be presenting another joint project at the American Real Estate Society Conference in March 2023. 

Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/business-professor-receives-funding-collaboration-south-african-university

Cathleen Evans, associate professor of nursing, has been awarded the COVID-19 Pandemic Civilian Service Medal for exemplary service to the nation as part of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) during the federal medical response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Evans, an expert in emergency and disaster care and education, serves as a member of an NDMS Disaster Medical Assistance Team which deploys emergency medical, logistical, and command and control personnel in response to public health emergencies, such as COVID-19, and natural disasters, such as a hurricanes, tornados, or wildfires. Evans and her NDMS colleagues served as a lifeline to hospitals and long-term care facilities across the country by providing temporary relief to staff, adding bed capacity, and improving outcomes for COVID-19 patients.
 
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Students and faculty from the Center for Social Work Education participated in the 2022 Walk Against Hate on October 23, 2022 hosted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as the WU Widener Team. In addition to the walk, students also engaged in advocacy, educational, and fundraising activities including staffing a table which provided bracelet making, coloring pages, positive affirmation activities, and more for community attendees. 

The Walk Against Hate is an annual event to bring communities together in solidarity against antisemitism, bigotry, and all forms of hate. 

Student participants Oli Zimmerman '26, Abigail Bustraan '26, Shaneka Atkins '24, Sarah Coupland '24, Madison McElwee '24, Jessica Mereshensky '24, Mykirah Russel- Hopson '24, Nicole Scharfetter '24, and Younger Zinnah '24 were led by Director for the Center of Social Work Jennifer Cullen associate professor Robin Goldberg-Glenn. 

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Associate Professor of Chemistry Andrea Martin has been recognized with the Fitz Dixon Innovation in Teaching Award, announced at the 2022 faculty awards program. 

The award recognizes faculty members, either individually or in teams, who have designed, implemented, and assessed an innovative or experimental teaching and learning project. 

Martin has a deep commitment to innovative, inclusive, and continuously renewed teaching of undergraduate chemistry.  This includes in-class structured group activities and frequent low-stakes assignments that are designed to build content knowledge and process skills simultaneously. She uses “Math Minute” videos to address deficiencies in the algebra needed for success in chemistry, and a flipped classroom model that involves making lecture material online and using the class period for problem solving. Martin uses applied process-oriented guided inquiry learning to include all students in active-learning group problem-solving, where students take turns with different roles of manager, recorder, reporter, and reflector – to explore chemistry problems as a team. 

Martin helped create Widener’s Peer Learning Assistant Program to support class goals and offer feedback on class activities. These exemplary, innovative, and impactful multi-faceted teaching projects advance the Widener mission to provide active and inclusive learning experiences for all students.

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