News from the Office of the Provost
APRIL 2022 - VOL. 4, ISSUE 4
A NOTE FROM THE INTERIM PROVOST
Happy spring! I hope you are having a productive and rewarding semester. As we approach the end of another busy academic year, we have certainly experienced many challenges and changes amid the uncertainty of the pandemic. Yet, we remain true to who we are as an energetic, innovative university. As we head to the finish line, there’s a lot to share with you about our progress, achievements and opportunities.
Here’s what I’d like to share with you today:
Faculty Awards
A great faculty is essential to a great university. And Georgia State’s faculty continue to provide the excellence in research, teaching, learning, creativity, and scholarship that have contributed to our national reputation for student success, innovation in research and scholarship, energetic creativity, and progress in impactful pedagogy.
I am pleased to share with you in this edition the awardees of the 2022 faculty awards at Georgia State, as well as the initial appointments and reappointments of Distinguished University Professors. The list also includes the inaugural recipients of our brand-new Outstanding Non-Tenure Track Faculty Award.
Congratulations to all of our honored faculty, and I look forward to celebrating your achievements at the Celebrating Faculty Excellence festivities this September!
COACHE Progress
To continue faculty excellence, faculty must be retained – making Georgia State a good place to work, and that is why Georgia State undertaking the COACHE Faculty Satisfaction improvement process.
The Office of the Provost and the Colleges/Schools created action plans to address concerns identified by faculty, and I am pleased to report that we are making significant strides in our commitments.
While we will publish a report at the end of this semester with expanded details about our progress, we’ve included a sneak preview in this edition, providing a snapshot of where we are as we head to the end of the three-year COACHE improvement cycle.
Keep an eye on your inbox for additional information in the coming months as we begin the process anew in the 2022-23 academic year.
The Legacy of the Next Generation Program
The Next Generation Program for strategic faculty hiring, just like its predecessor Second Century Initiative (2CI), brought the best faculty in their fields to the university for interdisciplinary collaboration. Truly, Next Gen and its people have transformed our reputation for innovative research and scholarship.
Since 2018, the Provost’s Office has shared updates about Next Gen and its faculty in every edition of this newsletter. In this edition, we are providing one final Next Gen update in tribute to its transformative nature.
My office is working in collaboration with University Research Services & Administration to provide an expanded progress report for publication to our community by the end of this semester. However, you’ll find the highlights in our tribute to the program’s legacy in this issue.
I am grateful to my predecessors for this work, including but definitely not limited to former Provost Risa Palm, who led 2CI and Next Gen over the past decade, and to the many other university leaders and faculty who have been vital to the programs’ success.
As part of President Blake’s four pillars, interdisciplinary, innovative research and scholarship will continue to remain critical to who we are, as evidenced by the RISE initiative. Stay tuned for more announcements about RISE and other exciting initiatives from the university.
The JEDI Awards and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
I am pleased to continue, expand, and enhance the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Awards for another year.
These awards are an effort to increase the recognition of significant contributions of individuals and groups within the university community and align with our goal of moving towards inclusive excellence.
This year, awards will be given in multiple groups, including a faculty award, staff award, undergraduate award, graduate student award, and an award for a department/unit. (Staff and departments/units must be in academic affairs; more information is available at https://dei.gsu.edu/act/jedi/nomination/.) Thanks to the generous sponsorship by Deluxe Corporation, there will be cash prizes for this year’s awards.
The deadline for nominations is June 1 but priority will be given to earlier submissions. Learn more about the nomination requirements, eligibility, criteria, prizes and the nomination form in this edition.
We also have further updates about DEI at Georgia State, including information about how you can watch a recording of the final Diversity Dialogue for this academic year, held April 13. You can read more in this edition.
University-Level Promotion & Tenure and Promotion for Non-Tenure Track (NTT) Faculty Manual Updates
As you probably well know, the University System of Georgia (USG) required its 26 member institutions to update its post-tenure review policies. The USG governs and provides directives to its institutions, of which Georgia State is a member.
Subsequent to its directive, the university began a process at the college and university levels to revise its manuals to meet these requirements, while ensuring relevance to Georgia State’s uniqueness as an institution.
Through collaboration and hard work by all parties, the colleges have approved their new manuals, and University Senate voted to approve the new institution manuals, effective March 24. I want to thank the Faculty Affairs Committee, the University Senate, the college committees and many others for their hard work in a short amount of time for Georgia State to fulfill the USG’s requirements.
Links to download the institution-level manuals are included in this edition.
Opportunities for Faculty Development, Mini-Grants and Workshops
Just because we’re heading to the end of the academic year doesn’t mean that development and funding opportunities are on pause.
In this edition, you’ll learn more about upcoming faculty development opportunities (including a summer workshop for NTT faculty through the Office of Faculty Affairs), workshops and programs from the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Online Education (CETLOE), and mini-grants for teaching and learning. Read more below.
Thank You & Looking to the Summer
This is the last edition of the Provost’s Office newsletter for the 2021-22 academic year. We’ll resume before classes begin in August.
I believe that we can’t help others if we don’t take a moment to take care of ourselves – especially after the past two years of multiple crises affecting nearly every aspect of our lives. I hope that you can take some well-deserved time for rest, relaxation and renewal this summer.
It is both truly earned and will be necessary to re-energize for another dynamic academic year to come.
I am reminded that in each edition of O magazine, Oprah Winfrey would pen a brief note under the headline of What I Know for Sure. In the past four months as the interim provost, I, too, have some things that I know for sure.
I know for sure that this has been one of the most monumental professional experiences of my life, and I could not have done it without each of you.
Once again, thank you for all that you do to make Georgia State a center of excellence in teaching, learning, research, scholarship and creativity.
Sincerely,
Nicolle Parsons-Pollard, Ph.D.
Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NEWS
- Note From the Interim Provost
- Honoring Our Outstanding Faculty: 2021-22 Awards and Appointments
- COACHE Progress Report
- A Solid Foundation and Enduring Legacy: The Next Generation Program
- Grants and Workshop Opportunities from CETLOE
- Rialto Unites with the College of the Arts
- CETLOE Teaching Awards
- Virtual Exchange Fellowships Awarded
- Georgia State Faculty Selected to Attend National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity Success Program Event
- DEI Updates: Nominations for the JEDI Awards and Catch Diversity Dialogue V
- New P&T and Promotion for Non-Tenure Track Faculty Manuals Now Available
- FY 2023 Faculty International Partnership Engagement (FIPE) Grant Deadline is April 29
- Non-Tenure Track Faculty: Register for the NCFDD Summer Workshop
- Georgia State Ranked No. 1 Military Friendly R-1 Institution
- National Institute for Student Success Receives Support From Innovative Philanthropic Fund Greater Share
- APLU/USU Case Study Describes How Georgia State Excelled in During Transformational Change
- Reminder: SACSCOC Notification Requirement for Online and Hybrid Programs
- College of Arts & Sciences Names Dean’s Early Career Award Recipients
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
- Vonetta Dotson: The Science Behind Staying Sharp as We Age
- Anant Honkan: Giving Back to Perimeter Through Its Largest Planned Gift
- Javier Stern: How Salt Affects Your Brain
- Allen Fromherz: Fulbright to Spain
ON TWITTER & ONLINE
FUTURE PUBLICATION DATES & DEADLINES
READ PREVIOUS ISSUES
NEWS
Honoring Our Outstanding Faculty: 2021-22 Awards and Appointments
The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the appointments of Distinguished University Professors and recognitions of faculty achievement and excellence, including an exciting new award listed below.
Distinguished University Professors
Initial Appointment
- Vikas Agarwal, Bank of America Distinguished Chair, Finance, Robinson College of Business
- Igor Belykh, Mathematics & Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences
- Beth Gylys, English, College of Arts & Sciences
- Alessandra Raengo, School of Film Media & Theatre, College of the Arts
- Veda C. Storey, Computer Information Systems, Robinson College of Business
- Baozhong Wang, Institute for Biomedical Sciences
Reappointment
- John Horgan, Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences
The appointment of Distinguished University Professor at Georgia State is intended to recognize a sustained and outstanding record in scholarship and instruction, and to provide the impetus for continuing high achievement. Distinguished University Professors are expected to serve the university as exemplary faculty members by contributing to its research, instructional, and service missions.
The term of the Distinguished University Professor is five years and may be renewed once upon successful re-application and re-evaluation. No more than 5 percent of the university’s tenured faculty members may hold this title at any time.
A list of previous Distinguished University Professors is available here.
Inaugural Outstanding Non-Tenure Track Faculty Achievement Award
- Amanda Ellwanger, Lecturer of Anthropology at Perimeter College
- Emily Graybill, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Public Health
This new award recognizes a non-tenure track (NTT) faculty member for outstanding achievements in their assigned areas of specialty (scholarship/creative works, teaching, and/or service). It is open to Georgia State faculty members who have been at the institution for at least four years at an NTT faculty rank. Find a list of the eligible ranks as well as additional award criteria here.
Instructional Innovation Award
- Evaristo F. Doria, Senior Lecturer of International Business, Robinson College of Business
This award recognizes innovative teaching practices designed to improve student learning in online, blended, or face-to-face courses. Innovations may include any novel teaching strategy or tool designed to enhance student learning. All full-time Georgia State faculty are eligible to apply.
Find a list of previous winners here.
Exceptional Service Award
- Jonathan Gayles, Professor and Chair, Africana Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
- Katherine Masyn, Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Associate Dean for Academic & Faculty Affairs, School of Public Health
This award recognizes faculty members for exceptional, sustained and impactful accomplishments in service. This award competition is open to all Georgia State full-time faculty members who have at least four years of faculty employment at the university.
A list of previous award winners is available here.
Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award
- Jidong Huang, Associate Professor of Health Management & Policy, School of Public Health
This award recognizes a faculty member for outstanding achievements across all three areas of scholarship, teaching and service. It is open to Georgia State graduate faculty members at the Assistant or Associate Professor rank who have been at Georgia State University for at least four years.
A list of previous award winners is available here.
Instructional Effectiveness Award
- Jennifer Sengin, Lecturer and Associate Director of Choral Activities, School of Music, College of the Arts
This award recognizes instructors who demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching and student success and to share at the university level outstanding approaches in instruction that are creative and effective in engaging students in the learning process. All full-time Georgia State faculty are eligible to apply.
A list of previous winners is available here.
Teaching for Social Justice and Democracy Award
- Ruchi Bhatnagar, Clinical Associate Professor, Early Childhood and Elementary Education, College of Education & Human Development
- Desmond Goss, Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Sociology, College of Arts & Sciences
The purpose of this award is to recognize and reward instructors who integrate current social justice issues into their courses to better engage Georgia State students in order to help them to develop their social, emotional and expressive capacities. This award recognizes instructional strategies that have been used to successfully incorporate social justice themes into various disciplines and result in positive student outcomes.
Information about previous winners is available here.
Further information about Regents’ Professorships is forthcoming.
Regents’ Professorships are bestowed on the most distinguished faculty of Georgia State, whose scholarly achievements are recognized both nationally and internationally as innovative and renowned. The appointment is made by the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents on recommendation of the university president as per Board of Regents policy manual 8.3.2. Read more about the honor on the Regents website here.
Learn more about previous Georgia State Regents’ Professors here.
Faculty award recipients and Distinguished University Professors will be honored at the Celebrating Faculty Excellence event during the fall.
COACHE Progress Report
The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) is a research-practice partnership based in the Harvard Graduate School of Education. COACHE studies the work lives of faculty with a focus on actionable data to support academic administrators. Studies are conducted in partnership with college and university leaders (both faculty and administrative) with an emphasis on using the data collected to improve the academic workplace.
Informed by the COACHE survey results, the Office of the Provost developed a university-level plan to address areas requiring improvement. Colleges, schools and institutes were directed to develop action plans specific to their units. The first COACHE action plan progress report was published in April 2021. This report is a follow-up piece, outlining the steps Georgia State has taken to meet its goals for improvement and transformation.
Download the university-level report below. College-, school-, and institute-level reports are forthcoming as well and will be available soon.
A Solid Foundation and Enduring Legacy: The Next Generation Program
Over the span of a decade, Georgia State has transformed into a greater, higher-profile institution with a national reputation and leadership in many aspects of academic life.
Innovative, interdisciplinary research and scholarship are among these facets of Georgia State’s elevation.
To do this, the university launched ambitious programs challenging university faculty to develop unique, impactful research clusters.
The problems of the 21st century – and door-opening discoveries — can only be tackled by researchers and scholars from across different disciplines. Both programs sought – and did – bring the best and brightest in their fields to Georgia State.
The successful Second Century Initiative (2CI) led to its follow-on: the Next Generation Program for strategic faculty hiring. Just as with 2CI, existing faculty at Georgia State developed concepts for impactful clusters that have yielded centers and initiatives that perform critical research and scholarship.
Faculty hired under these clusters have greatly contributed research productivity, grants to support innovative work at the university, and energetic collaborations with existing Georgia State faculty and the greater community.
As the university looks toward its next strategic vision, the Next Gen program is at its sunset – but its legacy will remain strong in the research, scholarship, innovation, and impact it has fostered. Its spirit of pushing beyond what’s thought to be possible will continue with strategic pillars and exciting new initiatives.
A more expansive report will be published at the end of this semester. As we anticipate its release, we wished to share the highlights of this truly transformative program.
(A note on nomenclature: the Next Generation Program [Next Gen] is not to be confused with the Commission for the Next Generation of Faculty, or the Next Generation of Faculty initiative. The Next Generation of Faculty is aimed at faculty diversity, equity, and inclusion in recruitment, retention, and engagement. Next Gen began in 2015; the Next Generation of Faculty commission was formed in 2017. Mentions of “Next Gen” in this article will always refer to the strategic cluster hiring program.)
You can read the retrospective as a single page article by clicking the button below, or you can read the retrospective through the dropdown sections further below. (If you are on a mobile device, select the single-page article link for best visibility.)
Basics of Next Gen
The goal of the program has been to build broadly-recognized strength and critical mass around research, scholarly and creative themes that have strategic importance to Georgia State.
After the five-year 2CI initiative ended in 2015, during the fall of that year, the university started the first round of Next Gen, challenging faculty in a request for proposals to develop innovative hubs to produce relevant and high-impact research and scholarship – while requiring proposals to consider how they will help Georgia State graduates to be prepared for rapidly changing job markets.
Closely scrutinizing each cluster for its potential, the university approved clusters over 4 years. Next Gen provided funds for departments, colleges, schools, and institutes to attract the best faculty in their fields to Georgia State.
You can read more about these winning proposals through the Next Generation Program’s website at https://nextgen.gsu.edu/next-generation-program/prior-rounds/.
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27 | Next Gen Faculty recruited and retained as of April 15, 2022 |
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More than 150 |
Peer-reviewed journal citations by Next Gen faculty while at Georgia State, and growing |
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13 | Clusters with currently active faculty hires |
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More than $15.5 million |
In grants directly awarded to Next Gen faculty while at Georgia State |
Examples of Major Grants & Projects
A few examples of major grant-supported work include, but are definitely not limited to:
- A $1.14 million grant from the National Cancer Institute allows Next Gen faculty member Jun Kong to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence computer vision and big data technologies to advance cancer research.
- A $1.4 million grant from the federal Minerva Research Initiative to the Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group, led by Next Gen faculty member David Maimon, is being used to examine the growing threat of conspiracy theories and how they lead to radicalization and acts of violence. (Learn more here.)
- Next Gen faculty member Terri Pigott is coordinating a research institute supported by a $1 million National Science Foundation grant, designed to support early career STEM educators.
Centers & Initiatives Affiliated With Next Gen Faculty
- Center for Neuroinflammation and Cardiometabolic Diseases (CNCD): CNCD promotes interdisciplinary research in neuroinflammation, which is recognized as a common factor in the development of diseases ranging from hypertension and obesity to Alzheimer’s disease and depression.
- Center for Research on Interpersonal Violence (CRIV): CRIV aims to establish collaborative and interdisciplinary scholarship that will ultimately prevent or reduce interpersonal violence.
- Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Group (EBCS): EBCS seeks to produce new and review existing empirical research that examines the potential effect of existing cyber-security policies and tools that can prevent or halt the progression of cybercrimes.
- Global Research Against Non-Communicable Disease (GRAND) Initiative: The GRAND Initiative addresses the growing global threat of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, and mental illness – which are among the leading causes of mortality worldwide.
- Legal Analytics Lab and the Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative: These two groups work with one another at the intersection of data science and law to solve intractable problems and create a more just society, exploring the use of natural language processing, machine and deep learning, network analysis, and other methodologies.
- Center for the Quantitative and Statistical Sciences (QUEST): Quantitative and statistical sciences are the bedrock of scientific inquiry and are the glue of interdisciplinary research – interdisciplinary research including work by other Next Gen and 2CI faculty. That requires places like Georgia State to innovate and refine quantitative research methods – something that is at the core of QUEST’s mission.
- Research on the Challenges to Acquiring Language and Literacy (RCALL): RCALL emphasizes research, student training, and dissemination of knowledge focused on improving the outcomes of children and adults who face challenges in acquiring language and literacy skills.
- Urban Drivers of Resilient Youth (ResY): Resilience is the process by which people are able to overcome adversity in their lives. ResY faculty are building interdisciplinary scholarship using resilience as a framework to address health disparities among urban youth.
- Transcultural Conflict and Violent Extremism (TCVE): TCVE scholars work on research to address the problems of terrorism and violent extremism, and how to counter it using evidence-based strategies to inoculate communities from radicalization, and to provide communities with tools needed to resist the allure of violent extremism.
- Urban Studies Institute: An outgrowth of faculty hired under the Future of Cities cluster in year 1 of Next Gen, the institute has developed into a hub for interdisciplinary research into the problems of cities, including economic resilience and inclusive development, sustainability, diversity, inequality, life-chances, social/spatial integration, access to public goods, and urban health disparities.
RISE to the Future
While the Next Gen program is ending, research and innovation at Georgia State won’t. As part of President M. Brian Blake’s four pillars guiding the university’s strategic visioning in the 2020s, research and innovation are key. And the university has already acted on its next phase of interdisciplinary research and scholarship: the Research Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) challenge.
While Next Gen was aimed toward faculty recruiting external of the university – RISE is an internal challenge to current faculty, to engage in interdisciplinary research and scholarship through one-time funding. Winning clusters are expected to be announced in May.
Learn More
Faculty profiles, news, highlights and details about Next Gen and its 2CI predecessor program are available at https://nextgen.gsu.edu/.
Grants and Workshop Opportunities from CETLOE
Don’t miss out on these opportunities from the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Online Education (CETLOE)!
Success Through Advancing Teaching Effectiveness Institute (STATE)
CETLOE invites full-time faculty to apply for our new Success Through Advancing Teaching Effectiveness (STATE) four-week summer teaching institute, designed to improve teaching effectiveness by supporting development in the areas of access and responsive pedagogy.
Participants in STATE will develop:
- Advanced understanding of conditions that create learning balance.
- Familiarity with research-based practices designed to support all learners.
- Careful construction of course materials that illustrate instructor dedication to access and responsive pedagogy.
Participants who complete STATE requirements will earn a stipend of $1,200 provided by the Office of the Provost. The STATE summer teaching institute is a hybrid training that will include online and in-person activities between July 11 and August 5.
Participants must attend four, 6-hour on-campus workshops on Wednesdays during that period (July 13, 20, 27 and August 3). Participants will also be required to revise materials for a course they are teaching in fall 2022 and submit a reflection on student response to course adaptations.
Applications to STATE are due by May 18, and must include a chair’s letter of support.
APPLY HERE:
https://cetl.gsu.edu/state-faculty-development-certificate/
Faculty Teaching Fellowships & Mini-Grants
Get support for your teaching and scholarship goals. Apply for a CETLOE Faculty Teaching Fellowship or mini-grant for the 2022-23 academic year.
Faculty Teaching Fellowships
Faculty Teaching Fellowships include an award of $15,000 toward a teaching release (with departmental approval), summer support, travel, research supplies or graduate research/teaching assistant help.
Applicants can propose a project design in one of two tracks:
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- College to Career
Awardees must be full-time faculty and demonstrate a commitment to excellence in teaching. Fellows will lead a Faculty Teaching and Learning Community, conduct research in the area of teaching and learning and participate in a scholarship of teaching and learning conference.
Applications are due May 6.
APPLY HERE
https://cetl.gsu.edu/programs-grants-awards/faculty-teaching-fellowships/
Mini-Grants
CETLOE mini-grant awards support new teaching projects or allow faculty to expand on current projects. Applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching. Awards will be made up to $3,500 and can be used for summer 2022 support, travel, research supplies or graduate research/teaching assistant help.
Applicants can propose a project design in these tracks:
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- College to Career
- General Pedagogy and Teaching Practices
Applications are due May 13.
APPLY HERE
https://cetl.gsu.edu/programs-grants-awards/mini-grants/
CETLOE holds numerous workshops that provide a wide-range of topical information. Here are just a few:
Teaching for Social Justice & Democracy Series
Inciting Abolitionist Imagination
With Dr. Desmond Goss, Friday, April 29, from 2 to 3 p.m.
Online
Learn More and Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/teaching-for-social-justice-democracy-speaker-series-dr-desmond-goss-tickets-308905323137
New Faculty Fridays Spring Series
First Year in Review (New Instructors Only)
With Dr. Laura Carruth, CETLOE
Friday, May 13, 9 a.m.
Learn More and Register: https://calendar.gsu.edu/event/new_faculty_fridays_alternative_assessments#.Yl2x2YXMKUl
Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) in Online Teaching & Learning
The U.S. Department of Education requires that all online courses for which students may receive federal financial aid “involve regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors.”
CETLOE provides resources to help you:
- understand what is required
- assess the extent to which RSI activities are already incorporated in your classes
- explore options for incorporating initial or additional RSI activities
- understand how educational technologies can assist you in facilitating RSI activities
Self-Assessment Checklist (PDF)
Workshop Dates/Times:
- Friday, May 6, 11 a.m. to noon – Register Here
iCollege Workshops
iCollege Workshops provide the knowledge you need to use the learning management system to its fullest.
View the CETLOE calendar here for more: https://cetl.gsu.edu/calendar/
Rialto Unites with the College of the Arts
The College of the Arts is pleased to announce that the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University will join forces with the College of the Arts in a strategic merge that will further elevate the performing arts at Georgia State and in downtown Atlanta.
“The Rialto Center for the Arts is an essential part of the vibrant cultural and artistic life of our university, and a part of our identity as a creative, innovative institution,” said Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Nicolle Parsons-Pollard. “This strategic move will strengthen our contributions to the creative life of our city, and also further cement Georgia State’s reputation as a place where the arts flourish.”
The union with the College of the Arts will open doors to new creative, administrative and educational resources for Rialto. This will also provide dynamic opportunities to activate cross-disciplinary collaborations between the Rialto and College of the Arts schools.
“As the college continues to grow, we are very excited to have Rialto Center for the Arts as part of our College of the Arts family,” said College of the Arts Founding Dean Wade Weast. “We look forward to consolidating our similar missions. Together, we can make the arts even more visible, vital and innovative.”
The Rialto Center for the Arts is Georgia State’s cultural centerpiece which recently celebrated its milestone 100th anniversary. Its mission is to advance creativity, innovation and the boundaries of imagination through engaging arts, education and entertainment. The nationally renowned arts programming is carefully curated to appeal to diverse audiences and represent a wide array of artistic styles and genres. The Rialto Series features national and international jazz artists, world music and dance, and Georgia State’s School of Music performances. Programming includes educational outreach programs to school students and the public, including the Rialto Jazz for Kids and the Feed Your Senses lunch series.
“Since opening in 1916, as the largest theater in the Southeast and Atlanta’s first movie house, the Rialto has a rich history in the downtown community,” said Rialto Center Director Lee Foster. “As we embark on this new era with the College of the Arts, we look forward to continuing to present world-class artists in our signature Rialto Series and supporting students along our ‘runway to mastery’ — from our Rialto Jazz for Kids middle school program to engaging the extraordinary students at Georgia State’s School of Music — to the pinnacle of mastery as professional artists and art aficionados.”
Established in 2016, the College of the Arts includes the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design, the School of Film, Media & Theatre, the School of Music, the Center for Educational Partnerships and a partnership with the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII).
The College of the Arts aims to inspire and empower students and faculty to excel in arts creation and scholarship at Georgia State University, one of the country’s most innovative and creative learning environments.
CETLOE Teaching Awards
Teaching Award Winners
CETLOE is pleased to recognize the following winners of our 2022 Teaching Awards. Please join us in congratulating our colleagues on their win and in thanking them for their dedication to our students.
Part-Time Instructor Teaching Award Winner
Nyasha Dunkley
Deputy State Climatologist and Part-Time Instructor Geosciences
Graduate Teaching Assistant Pedagogical Mentor
Rasha Ramzy
Associate Chair and Senior Lecturer, Communication
Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Award
Amit Agarwal
PhD Candidate Marketing
Writing Across the Curriculum Pedagogy Award Winners
The Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program would like to acknowledge this year’s pedagogy award winners.
WAC Faculty Pedagogy Award
Lisa R. Shannon, Africana Studies
Dr. Shannon’s innovative approach to writing-intensive pedagogy brought together the topics of sports, social justice and culture in scaffolded writing assignments that demonstrated an impressive commitment to the mission of WAC at the university.
WAC Graduate Student Consultant Pedagogy Award
Namrata Dey Roy, English & WomenLead
Serving as a WAC Consultant for the WomenLead Entrepreneurship course, Ms. Dey Roy’s commitments to student success were exemplified through the nuanced and precise feedback she provided to students that supported their growth as writers.
Honorable Mentions for the WAC Graduate Student Consultant Pedagogy Award
Alice Van Derveer, Neuroscience
Sung Park, English
Virtual Exchange Initiative Fellowships Awarded
The Office of International Initiatives (OII) is pleased to announce the recipients of two inaugural Virtual Exchange (VE) Faculty Fellowships. Congratulations to Dr. Hongmei Zhang, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Yali Zhao, Associate Professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, College of Education and Human Development.
Dr. Zhang will focus on assessment and research by implementing surveys and assessment instruments to measure the impact of VE on student learning outcomes, such as intercultural competency, digital literacy, and academic success. Dr. Zhao will focus on outreach, training, and sustainability by working with colleges and departments to recruit faculty to implement a VE modality.
Fellows will collaborate with Georgia State University units, such as Institutional Research, to conduct retrospective and current analysis of VE’s impact on student success. They will also work with CETLOE, Faculty Affairs, and departments to introduce VE to new and current faculty and develop standardized VE pedagogy. To learn more about the virtual exchange initiative, please visit the OII website.
– Elaine Guillot, Manager of Marketing & Public Relations, Office of International Initiatives
Georgia State Faculty Selected to Attend National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity Success Program Event
A group of 13 outstanding faculty have been selected to virtually attend the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD) Faculty Success Program (FSP) event this summer.
This 12-week online program, the most popular of NCFDD, helps tenure-track and tenured faculty with the skills necessary to increase research and writing productivity while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
The Office of the Provost and each participant’s college or school are co-sponsoring the selected faculty members; the FSP runs from May 15 through Aug. 6.
Learn more about the selected faculty members below.
Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey
Associate Professor of Africana Studies
Dr. Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Georgia State University and the Pre-PhD Faculty Associate for the Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni (CASA). Her research interests include Hip Hop culture, popular culture, political behavior, political attitudes, African-American politics, Black women and Politics, political psychology and public opinion.
Her current research examines the relationship between Black popular culture and social justice in a forthcoming co-edited volume (with Jonathan Gayles) entitled Black Popular Culture and Social Justice: Beyond the Culture (Routledge Press). Additionally, Dr. Bonnette-Bailey’s is also examining the relationship between political rap music and racial attitudes in a book tentatively titled, What’s on Your Radio: Political Rap Music and Racial Attitudes.
She recently published a co-edited volume (with Adolphus Belk Jr) entitled For the Culture: Hip-Hop and Social Justice (University of Michigan Press, 2022) examining the relationships between Hip-Hop culture and social justice. Additionally, Dr. Bonnette-Bailey published (2015) a book with the University of Pennsylvania Press entitled, Pulse of the People: Rap Music and Black Political Attitudes.
Dr. Bonnette-Bailey has written numerous articles including articles published in Ethnic Studies Review, New Political Science, Du Bois Review and book chapters in Contemporary Public Policy and Social Development in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Through the Prism of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream and Oxford’s Handbook on Protest Music (forthcoming).
In 2017, she hosted the first political Hip Hop conference at Georgia State University entitled, Behind the Music: Hip Hop and Social Justice, which examined the ways in which social justice is addressed and expressed within Hip Hop culture. In 2018, she was a Nasir Jones/ W. E. B. Du Bois Hip-Hop fellow with the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Later that year she completed two talks in in Ingelheim and Kaiserslautern, Germany discussing the relevance and importance of rap music, activism and social justice and she received her certificate in psychoanalysis from Emory University’s Psychoanalytic Institute.
In 2019, Dr. Bonnette-Bailey presented at TedX talk entitled “The Political Impact of Rap Music” and in 2020, she hosted Beyond the Culture: Black Popular Culture and Social Justice at Georgia State University. In 2021, Dr. Bonnette-Bailey founded the podcast The Intersection: Where Black Popular Culture Meets Social Justice, which can be found on all of your podcasts servers. Finally, in 2021 Dr. Bonnette-Bailey appeared in the Bounce Network original documentary Protect or Neglect, where she discussed the history of policing and the disparities within the Black community. Dr. Bonnette-Bailey has been interviewed by numerous news outlets including VOX, the AJC, CBS 46, Washington Post, W.A.B.E., BBC, Atlanta Magazine, ABC News, 11 Alive News, TheGrio and numerous other news outlets.
Marva Griffin Carter
Associate Professor of Music History, Popular and World Musics
Marva Griffin Carter is an Associate Professor of Music History, Popular and World Musics in the School of Music and has joint affiliation in the Department of Africana Studies at Georgia State University. Carter is a graduate of Boston Conservatory at Berklee (B.M.) and of New England Conservatory of Music (M.M.) in piano performance. She also has degrees in musicology from Boston University (M.A.) and the University of Illinois at Urbana (Ph.D.). Dr. Carter is the author of the Black Broadway pioneer composer’s biography Swing Along: The Musical Life of Will Marion Cook (Oxford University Press). Currently, she is completing a book for the University of Illinois Press which examines the sacred musical tradition of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where she was organist for a decade. Marva Carter received the Society for American Music’s coveted Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
Rhiannon Evangelista
Assistant Professor of History and Assistant Chair, Department of History and Political Science
Perimeter College
Rhiannon Evangelista is an Assistant Professor of History at Perimeter College who teaches World history and U.S. history. Her research specialties include the history of regime change, dictatorial legacies, and twentieth-century Italy. Her current book project, entitled Fascists after Fascism: Mussolini’s Ministers in Democratic Italy, 1945-1970, explores how former politicians continued to reap benefits from having once held political power, even after a regime change. Dr. Evangelista is the author of the award-winning article “The particular kindness of friends: ex-Fascists, clientage and the transition to democracy in Italy, 1945–1960” (Modern Italy 20 [4], Nov 2015, 411-425). She received her PhD from Emory University, a Masters of Arts from the University of Georgia, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick Saint John (Canada).
Mario Feit
Associate Professor of Political Science
Mario Feit is Associate Professor of Political Science. His research areas are in modern and democratic political theory. Dr. Feit is working on a book manuscript that defends impatience as a democratic temporality by engaging Sara Ahmed, the Book of Job, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Portions of this project have been published in Contemporary Political Theory, Political Theology, as well as Theory & Event. Dr. Feit won the award for best article published in Contemporary Political Theory for “Democratic Impatience: Martin Luther King, Jr. on Democratic Temporality.” Additional publications include his book Democratic Anxieties: Same-Sex Marriage, Death, and Citizenship, as well as essays on democratic theorists Thomas Paine and Sheldon Wolin.
Grace Harpster
Assistant Professor of Art History
Grace Harpster is Assistant Professor of Art History in the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design at Georgia State University in Atlanta. She received her doctorate in 2018 from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently at work on a book project that examines archbishop Carlo Borromeo’s (1538-84) interventions with images in the name of Catholic reform in Italy. Her most recent publication is a 2021 article in the Oxford Art Journal titled “Figino’s Efficacy: Portraits, Votives, and their Makers after Trent,” which examines how Borromeo’s posthumous likenesses were caught between a discourse of portraiture and the new legal processes of achieving sainthood. Her work has been supported by the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at Columbia University, the Getty Scholar’s Program, and the Fulbright Foundation, among other institutions.
Marie Sumner Lott
Associate Professor of Music History
Marie Sumner Lott is an Associate Professor of music history at Georgia State University in Atlanta. She is the author of The Social Worlds of Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music: Composers, Consumers, Communities (University of Illinois Press, 2015), and she has published articles and book chapters on the music of Joseph Joachim, Louise Farrenc, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. Her current project, Imagining the Middle Ages in Nineteenth-Century Music, focuses on Romantic Medievalism in the works of Brahms and his contemporaries.
Karen E. Nielsen
Assistant Professor of Biostatistics
Dr. Karen Nielsen is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics in the department of Population Health Sciences within the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. Dr. Nielsen has expertise in multilevel modeling and techniques for modeling time-intensive longitudinal data, including data resulting from physiological sensors and wearable technology. Her research interests include the development and application of new statistical techniques for modern data challenges, such as integrating and interpreting multiple data sources with differing timescales, and adapting existing techniques to new use cases. In addition to her methodological development work, Dr. Nielsen enjoys interdisciplinary collaborations across a variety of disciplines including psychology, gerontology, communication, kinesiology, and public health.
Ashli A. Owen-Smith
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
Ashli Owen-Smith is a behavioral scientist with research interests in health disparities, mental health (specifically serious mental illness, trauma and suicide), chronic pain, and complementary and alternative approaches for complex conditions with both mental and physical causes and manifestations.
Dr. Owen-Smith’s research aims to identify questions that are relevant and important to patients, and to prioritize the translation of research findings into clinical practice. Accordingly, she is interested in conducting patient-centered research and utilizing patient-reported outcomes. She works closely with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders and is interested in employing qualitative and mixed methods.
Lia C. Scott
Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
Dr. Lia Scott is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Department of Population Health Sciences for the School of Public Health. Her general research interests include identifying the various individual, policy, social and physical environmental factors that drive social and structural inequities by combining spatial analysis, advanced statistical modeling and epidemiologic methods. She aims to quantify the effect these factors have on cancer outcomes in cancers that disproportionately impact Black women, emphasizing triple-negative breast cancer. Her research focuses on the intersection of race and structural racism using population-based data to evaluate disparities in incidence, mortality, survival and other outcomes.
Susan Navarro Smelcer
Assistant Professor of Law
Susan Navarro Smelcer, assistant professor of law, focuses her research at the intersection of data analytics and legal decision-making. Professor Smelcer uses quantitative methods and text analytics techniques to better understand how litigants, courts, and agencies assess risk, liability, and damages. She is also interested in building data-driven applications to increase access to justice and social safety net programs. Professor Smelcer’s work has been published in the Cornell Law Review, N.Y.U. Law Review, Kentucky Law Review, Judicature, Political Research Quarterly, PS: Political Science and Politics, and Studies in American Political Development, among others.
Professor Smelcer is also affiliated with the Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative (LAII) at the College of Law. Through the LAII, Professor Smelcer teaches courses on empirical research design and quantitative methodology to J.D. and L.L.M. students pursuing a concentration in Legal Analytics.
Before joining the faculty at the Georgia State University College of Law, Professor Smelcer practiced antitrust law in Washington, DC, where she focused on antitrust class action litigation. Prior to law school, Professor Smelcer was an Analyst on the Federal Judiciary at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in the Library of Congress. During her tenure at CRS, Professor Smelcer was detailed to the Senate Impeachment Trial Committee to assist with and advise on a judicial impeachment trial.
Professor Smelcer received her J.D. from the New York University School of Law, where she was awarded the Vanderbilt Medal for outstanding service to the law school, the Betty Bock Prize in Competition Policy, and the Law and Economics Prize. In law school, she served as the Senior Online Editor of the N.Y.U. Law Review. Professor Smelcer also earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Emory University, where she focused on American political institutions, public policy processes, game theory, and quantitative methodology. Professor Smelcer holds a B.A., with distinction and highest honors, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in political science.
Rodney R. Yates Smith
Assistant Professor, Computer Information Systems
Perimeter College
Dr. Rodney R. Yates Smith is an Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems at Perimeter College. He is an accomplished Information Technology and Academic Professional that has been teaching at Georgia State University Perimeter College since 2016. Dr. Smith is a respected, hands-on Director/Senior Manager of Information Technology with a distinguished 25-year IT career, which has combined the information technology field with academia. He brings a wealth of “real world” knowledge and expertise to an academic environment and is adept in developing an interesting and productive active-learning classroom environment.
Ashley Marie Stewart
Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology
Ashley Marie Stewart is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology in the Department of Learning Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. Her research explores the race-related experiences of Black adolescents in both online and offline settings, as well as implications for learning and development. Additionally, she examines teachers’ racial attitudes and practices with racially minoritized students and the roles that teachers can play in helping students cope and make sense of their negative race-related experiences.
Xieyi (Abby) Zhang
Assistant Professor of Music Theory
Xieyi (Abby) Zhang is an Assistant Professor in Music Theory specializing in nineteenth-century musical form and the music of Antonín Dvořák. This Chinese-born Canadian completed his Ph.D. at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and previously received a B.Mus. with a specialization in music theory from the University of Toronto. As a pianist, Zhang has performed at venues in both New York and Toronto.
Biographies courtesy of faculty and the Office of Faculty Affairs
DEI Updates: Catch Diversity Dialogue V and Enter Nominations for the JEDI Awards
Diversity Dialogue V
If you missed the last Diversity Dialogue of the 2021-22 academic year, it is now available online at the Diversity Dialogues SharePoint portal. Visit https://dei.gsu.edu/diversity-dialogues/ for the link to the portal, where you can watch the April 13 event, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Georgia State and in the State of Georgia: Where Do We Go From Here?” and other events from 2021-22 and the inaugural 2020-21 series.
The event included a core group of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leaders from around Georgia, who regularly meet share best practices, insights and collaborate on how to move their public and private institutions toward inclusive excellence.
Representatives from Emory University, Mercer University, Augusta University, Kennesaw State University and Oglethorpe University joined Georgia State officials and had a conversation on DEI initiatives at their respective institutions and a discussion on Georgia State’s DEI programming, as participants examined how Georgia State can become a national leader in diversity. Visit https://dei.gsu.edu/diversity-dialogues/diversity-dialogue-5-spring-2022/ for a list of speakers and their biographies.
Nominations Open for the Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Awards
The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Awards are an effort to increase the recognition of significant contributions of individuals and groups within the Georgia State University community who are committed to creating an inclusive environment.
These awards also align with Georgia State’s goal of moving towards inclusive excellence, which requires the embrace of these values. The acronym stands for:
- Justice: creating a campus free from barriers, intentionally shaped to meet the needs of all members
- Equity: ensuring that all members have access and representation
- Diversity: embracing differences in people and perspectives
- Inclusion: fostering a sense of belonging
Nominations for the JEDI Awards are accepted from Georgia State faculty, students, staff, and academic units/departments. The award categories include the Faculty JEDI Award, the Graduate Student JEDI Award, the Undergraduate Student JEDI Award, the Staff JEDI Award (staff reporting under academic affairs – please see the link below), and the Department/Unit JEDI Award for academic departments/units.
The 2022 awards are sponsored and supported by Deluxe Corporation and Georgia State. A $1,000 prize will be given to each individual honoree and $2,000 to each department/unit. In addition to a cash prize for the winners, nominees and winners will have the chance to interact with Deluxe leadership at their new customer innovation center to learn firsthand how to co-collaborate with partners big and small to develop critical business solutions, and to discuss ideas for attracting young, diverse professionals into today’s workforce.
The deadline for nominations for the 2022 awards is June 1, 2022; priority consideration is given for early entries. For the nomination form, eligibility, criteria and additional information, click the following link: https://dei.gsu.edu/act/jedi/nomination/
New P&T and Promotion for Non-Tenure Track Faculty Manuals Now Available
Subsequent to directives from the Board of Regents, the revised Promotion & Tenure and Promotion for Non-Tenure Track Faculty are now available at the links below through the Office of Faculty Affairs.
FY 2023 Faculty International Partnership Engagement (FIPE) Grant Deadline is April 29
The Office of International Initiatives (OII) invites applications for the annual Faculty International Partnerships Engagement (FIPE) grant program.
Full-time GSU faculty are invited to submit proposals for the FY 2023 FIPE grant program by April 29, 2022. OII is providing seed funds for FY 2023 to support leveraging external funding for international research projects, especially those that support student training. The FY2023 FIPE Request for Proposal and link to submission portal can be found at: https://international.gsu.edu/fipe-2023/.
For inquiries about the grant, contact either:
Anna Tapfer, program coordinator, International Partnerships and Agreements at 404-413-2552 [email protected]
Or
Kike Ehigiator, director, International Partnerships and Agreements at 404-413-2532 or [email protected]
Reminder for Non-Tenure Track Faculty: Register for a National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development Summer Workshop
The Office of Faculty Affairs and the Office of the Provost are excited to announce a summer workshop for non-tenure track (NTT) faculty. This workshop, facilitated by a certified trainer from the National Center for Diversity and Development (NCFDD), will be customized for Georgia State faculty and will address goal setting, personal strategic plans, and the identification of communities of support.
• Date: Monday, August 15
• Location: Center Parc Stadium, University Club
• Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Interested NTT faculty are encouraged to RSVP quickly as seats are limited. So that NCFDD can customize this workshop to better serve our faculty’s interests, backgrounds and needs, RSVP by Tuesday, May 3.
Click here to reserve your seat for this exciting opportunity!
If you have questions, please email us at [email protected].
Georgia State Ranked No. 1 Military Friendly R-1 Institution
Georgia State University has once again been ranked the No. 1 Military Friendly® tier-1 research institution in the nation for the 2022-2023 school year. Scoring and ranking were conducted by VIQTORY’s Military Friendly® survey, the longest-running and most comprehensive review of college and university investments in serving military and veteran students.
Georgia State was among more than 8,800 schools in the United States eligible for the survey and was chosen as the No. 1 school in the top tier of universities that were ranked. Georgia State’s six campuses and Online program serve more than 2,800 military-connected students each semester.
Georgia State was the only Georgia university listed in the top 10 of the tier 1 research schools. Other tier-1 research institutions in the top 10 include the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Colorado and the University of Alabama.
The survey looks at how higher education institutions provide the best opportunities for veterans and their spouses. The weighted rankings are based on the retention, graduation and job placement rate of veterans and military-connected students, the administration of federal benefits and tuition assistance, and the school’s overall commitment to veteran success on campus.
Read more at the Georgia State University News Hub through the link below.
National Institute for Student Success Receives Support From Innovative Philanthropic Fund Greater Share
Georgia State University’s National Institute for Student Success (NISS) is among eight organizations worldwide that will receive long-term support from the newly formed Greater Share Education Fund, a first-of-its-kind philanthropic investment model.
The investment stands to be one of the largest in Georgia State University’s history and will support the NISS’ work to develop and disseminate the next generation of data-driven interventions designed to help college students graduate.
The NISS was founded in fall 2020 at Georgia State, the national leader in eliminating achievement gaps in higher education. Widely recognized for designing and implementing scalable models for student success, over the past six years more than 500 institutions serving more than 3 million students have sent teams to Georgia State to learn more about the university’s approaches to helping students graduate.
Read more at the Georgia State News Hub through the link below.
APLU/USU Case Study Describes How Georgia State Excelled in During Transformational Change
Georgia State is one of three universities for which the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU) released three roadmaps examining how urban-located universities can thrive during major change.
The case studies show how institutions can turn the challenges presented during institutional mergers, leadership transitions, and new performance-based state funding models into opportunities to advance equity and institutional transformation.
The other two institutions featured include Florida International University and Portland State University. The case studies/roadmaps took nearly six years of intensive work by Georgia State, FIU and Portland State, along with APLU and USU. It was done as part of the Frontier Set initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Georgia State case study outlines how the university navigated the merger with Perimeter College, overcame challenges, and incorporated feedback from faculty, students and staff to inform the consolidation process – with a clear vision to adopt and scale student success initiatives that have been demonstrated to make a true difference.
To download the case study, visit https://www.aplu.org/library/essentials-of-institutional-transformation-growth-amid-a-university-merger/file.
Reminder: SACSCOC Notification Requirement for Online and Hybrid Programs
As Georgia State’s portfolio of online courses continues to expand, faculty may now have programs that meet the threshold set by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) for notification of distance delivery mode. SACSCOC’s recent changes to the substantive change policies now require notification prior to crossing the 50 percent threshold on delivery mode.
For example, a program meets the threshold when:
a. More than 2 courses (or 7 credit hours) of a 15-hour graduate certificate are offered online.
b. More than 4 courses (or 14 credit hours) of a 30-hour master’s program are offered online.
c. More than 6 courses (or 19 credit hours) of a 40-hour major are offered online.
If a program is close to, or more than, 50 percent online the Form for External Degree Approval of Second and Subsequent Online Programs, available at this link, must be submitted. Completed forms should be routed directly to Associate Provost for Online Strategies Kim Siegenthaler at [email protected]. The forms will then be presented as an information item at CAP. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will then notify SACSCOC.
SACSCOC notification is required regardless of intent to officially offer the program as online or hybrid. Notification does not commit the department to offer the program in an online or hybrid format. It does grant authority to do so. All decisions about when to offer, pace of development and expansion and size of the program remain with the department and college. If you are interested in officially offering an existing program as online or hybrid, please inform Dr. Siegenthaler.
If faculty think there is the slightest possibility that 50 percent or more of an existing undergraduate or graduate program will be delivered online in the future, and it is not yet approved for distance learning, they are encouraged to submit the notification form as soon as possible.
When new academic programs are being developed, the university highly recommends that the online modality is included in the proposal. Doing so will ensure that the path is clear if and when the department desires to deliver the program as hybrid or online.
College of Arts & Sciences Names Dean’s Early Career Award Recipients
Recipients of the Dean’s Early Career Award are selected annually by the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences from among the college’s assistant professor ranks.
“Our Dean’s Early Career Award recipients are doing impressive research while gaining wide recognition in their fields,” said Dean Sara Rosen. “It is a privilege to watch them flourish so early in their careers at Georgia State, and I am excited to see what comes next for these scholars.”
Learn more about the winners below.
Sierra Carter
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
READ MORE
Jordan Hamm
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience Institute
READ MORE
Sarah Ledford
Assistant Professor
Department of Geosciences
READ MORE
– Anna Varela, Director of Communications for the College of Arts and Sciences
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Office of the Provost welcomes news of college/school/institute-level faculty award winners! Please submit your information to your college/school/institute communications director (list available at this link), or by using this form (log in using your Georgia State campus ID & password).
Faculty Spotlight
Vonetta Dotson: The Science Behind Staying Sharp as We Age
For many people, middle age arrives with some minor mental slip-ups. These “senior moments” are universal experiences that come with aging — and typically harmless. The Centers for Disease Control says one in nine adults ages 45 or older report at least occasional confusion or memory loss. But how do you know when these occurrences are normal? And how can you protect against more serious cognitive issues as you get older?
“The aging process looks different for different people. But generally, you can think of your brain like a house. If you take care of it, you can maintain a house for decades,” says Vonetta Dotson, associate professor of psychology and gerontology, whose new book Keep Your Wits About You: The Science of Brain Maintenance as You Age is now available. “But if you neglect it, you’re more likely to have problems over time.”
Dotson says scientific advances like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are allowing researchers to gain new knowledge of the most complex organ in the human body — and identify ways to protect it.
The Georgia State University Research Magazine recently interviewed Dr. Dotson about her research. You can find the Q&A at https://news.gsu.edu/research-magazine/staying-sharp-as-we-age-vonetta-dotson.
– Interview by Noelle Toumey Reetz, Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development
Anant Honkan: Giving Back to Perimeter Through Its Largest Planned Gift
Dr. Anant Honkan didn’t need to think long about giving back to Perimeter College. It’s a place that he says has given him so much, including reasons to establish the college’s largest ever planned gift in addition to a scholarship in his mother’s name.
“My colleagues here were like family to me; they adopted me from the very first day,” Honkan said about when he started teaching at Perimeter and working to build the college’s engineering program.
Today, Honkan is widely regarded as Perimeter’s Father of Engineering.
His passion for science developed in his hometown in southwest India where, as the youngest of five children, he adopted an inquisitive mind early on. For instance, as a young boy, curiosity led him to wrap copper coil around a stick, place it in a bucket of water then dip his finger into it. The jolting and potentially catastrophic experience humors him today.
Following a few professional stops and advanced degrees, Honkan arrived at then Georgia Perimeter College in 1995. Today, Perimeter College at Georgia State University is recognized for its top-notch engineering program, with Honkan developing and producing engineering courses deemed fundamental to students and their studies beyond the college. He also played the lead role in establishing the school’s Regional Engineering Transfer Program with Georgia Tech.
Honkan also is a past Perimeter College Cole Fellow, a prestigious recognition given annually to one faculty member who demonstrates extraordinary dedication to undergraduate teaching. Honkan used the award’s $1,000 monetary gift to fund the perpetual book scholarship established to honor his deceased mother, Girija Honkan.
Read more at the Georgia State News Hub: https://news.gsu.edu/2022/03/23/perimeter-professor-gives-back-to-college-in-big-way/
Article by Kysa Anderson Daniels, Publication Specialist, PR & Marketing at Perimeter College
Javier Stern: How Salt Affects Your Brain
In recent years, scientists have come to discover that inflammation in the brain, also known as neuroinflammation, plays an important role in the development of health problems like obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol — which are in turn risk factors for major chronic conditions.
As the founding director of Georgia State’s Center for Neuroinflammation & Cardiometabolic Diseases, Distinguished University Professor Javier Stern is working to uncover the mechanisms behind these inflammatory processes and how they contribute to diseases ranging from diabetes to Alzheimer’s.
In a first-of-its-kind study published last fall, Stern and his team used a novel technique to uncover how salt intake affects blood flow deep in the brain. Ninety percent of Americans over the age of two consume too much sodium, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your body responds to a high-salt diet with a number of compensatory changes, many of which are poorly understood. These include changes in the brain, which, as Stern has found, may be linked to high blood pressure and even neurocognitive issues.
“This research is an important step in understanding how bodily homeostasis is regulated in the face of salt intake,” says Stern.
In a recent issue of the Georgia State University Research magazine, he shared why the new findings could lead to important breakthroughs in the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases.
Read the full article at https://news.gsu.edu/research-magazine/this-is-your-brain-on-salt-javier-stern.
– Interview by Noelle Toumey Reetz, Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development
Allen Fromherz: Fulbright Senior Scholar to Spain
Allen Fromherz has been named as a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Spain. In Fall 2022 he will conduct research in partnership with his sponsor Professor Bárbara Boloix-Gallardo at the University of Granada, Spain. His topic is the life and times of the prolific writer, polymath, plague doctor, historian, general, and poet Lisan ad-Din ibn al-Khatib (d. 1374 CE). Ibn al-Khatib lived and worked in Granada’s famed Alhambra Palace, writing poetry that ornamented its walls.
Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious, competitive fellowships providing unique opportunities for teaching and research abroad. Alumni include 61 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 76 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders and world-renowned experts.
Independent research and participant surveys confirm that Fulbright exchange experiences lead to greater international co-publication, continued international exchange, and stronger cross-cultural communication skills.
Fromherz is the director of Georgia State’s Middle East Studies Center, with a research focus on the history of the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. His books have examined change in societies, from the 12th century C.E. and the rise of the Almohads, to questions of change, modernization, identity and culture in 21st century in Qatar.
More recently, Fromherz is the editor of The Gulf in World History and co-editor of Knowledge, Authority and Change in Islamic Societies: Studies in Honor of Dale Eickelman. His next book, The Global Gulf: A History is expected to be published by Harvard University Press in 2022.
– Jeremy Craig, Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost
ON TWITTER & ONLINE
Keep informed through the Provost’s Office Twitter account at @GaStateProvost and the Provost’s Office newsfeed at https://provost.gsu.edu/news/.
FUTURE PUBLICATIONS
Thank you for reading the Provost’s Office Newsletter during this academic year. This is the final edition for AY 2021-22; we will resume publication in August.
While the publication schedule for 2022-23 is being determined, for priority consideration in the August 2022 newsletter, academic units should send items to [email protected] no later than July 25, 2022. The Provost’s Office publishes news items based on relevance and usefulness to its audiences.
ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER & READ PREVIOUS ISSUES
News from the Office of the Provost is an e-newsletter highlighting news and activities in academic affairs at Georgia State University. For questions about the newsletter, email Jeremy Craig at [email protected].
Previous issues are available by selecting the button below.