LaVonda N. Reed, J.D., was appointed as the seventh dean of the Georgia State College of Law effective July 1, 2021.

Prior to her appointment at Georgia State, Dean Reed served as Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at Syracuse University from 2015 to 2021. In this position, she was responsible for supporting more than 1,700 faculty members. She had oversight of research and administrative leaves, promotion and tenure review, policy development and enforcement, and awards, among other duties. She was also responsible for the stewardship and oversight of the Lender Center for Social Justice, as well as the stewardship of a multimillion-dollar endowment to support teaching excellence across the university.

At Syracuse, Dean Reed led initiatives to recruit and retain diverse faculty and created the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence and the Center for Faculty Leadership and Professional Development, which helped further the work of Syracuse’s National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant designed to support women and underrepresented minority scholars in STEM disciplines.

Dean Reed first joined the faculty at Syracuse University College of Law in 2006. Her research and teaching are in the areas of wills and trusts, property, and communications regulatory law and policy.

Prior to her appointment at Syracuse University, she was on the faculty of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. She also was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Donald W. VanArtsdalen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and practiced communications and corporate law with the international firm of Paul Hastings LLP.

Dean Reed earned her Juris doctor degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Rodney Lyn was appointed as full dean of the School of Public Health, effective June 1, 2021, after serving in this leadership role in an interim capacity. His interim period was an eventful one – serving as a vital member of Georgia State’s COVID-19 Task Force.

He is also Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences. His research is focused on childhood obesity prevention, school and community health, and the reduction of health disparities. He has special interest in identifying effective policy and system approaches to increasing physical activity and healthy eating in children and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on these topics.

Dr. Lyn has led or contributed to funded grants totaling over $16M from federal and state agencies, foundations, and not-for-profit organizations. He currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator for the Prevention Research Center at Georgia State University. Other recent projects include theRacial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health, a CDC-supported partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine to address food deserts; the Georgia Childhood Obesity Prevention Program, a multi-county initiative to support and accelerate local policy and environmental interventions for obesity prevention, with funding from Healthcare Georgia Foundation; Partnerships to Improve Community Health, a CDC-supported partnership with Fulton County Health Department focused on tobacco prevention; and, a study examining mortality disparities and resilience in low-income, minority communities in the South, funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Lyn previously served as Deputy Director for GSU’s NIH-funded Center of Excellence on Health Disparities Research.

Dr. Lyn has advised and worked closely with state and federal agencies, professional associations, not-for-profits, and the philanthropic community on a variety of public health topics. He teaches graduate courses including Public Health Policy, Analysis, and Advocacy; Public Health Leadership and Policy; and Childhood Obesity Prevention. He is an active member of the American Public Health Association.

Dr. Michael Sanseviro (Ph.D. ’06), associate vice president and dean of students at Georgia State University since 2019, has been named vice president for student engagement and programs at the university.

Dr. Sanseviro had been interim vice president for student engagement and programs and associate vice president for student engagement and dean of students.

Prior to joining Georgia State, he was the associate vice president and dean of students at Kennesaw State University.

Dr. Sanseviro was the dean of students during the consolidation of Kennesaw State and the Southern Polytechnic State University and helped to build a strong student community for Kennesaw State students at the Marietta and Kennesaw campus locations.

Early in his career, he was the director of Georgia State’s first residential housing complex and was also director of student life at Georgia Perimeter College.

Dr. Sanseviro earned his Ph.D. in educational policy studies from Georgia State in 2006.

Salary Equity Adjustments for Inversion

Last year, the Office of the Provost conducted a review of the salaries of all full-time faculty in all ranks at all campuses to identify those who were experiencing salary inversion.

Inversion occurs when an individual with a given job, rank, and department (such as an Associate Professor of Chemistry) is making less than the highest-paid individuals in the same job and department at the next rank below (such as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry).

Provost Hensel and the university identified a pool of $732,564 to address inversion and consulted with the University Senate about the preferred distribution mechanism. Having now received approval from the Board of Regents, the inversion funds have been distributed to the 252 faculty members determined to be eligible for an adjustment. In many cases, the adjustments will completely correct the inversion.

Where this is not possible due to a limitation of the available funds, individuals are receiving the average amount of available funds per person up to a maximum of $3,700. All faculty receiving a salary adjustment were notified earlier this month, with adjustments effective immediately.

The initiative represents a significant installment in an ongoing university effort to address faculty concerns with fairness and equity in compensation, and these discussions will continue during the 2021-22 academic year.

Action Plan Update

Building a Bridge Together is the university-level action plan to make progress in addressing the findings of the COACHE survey. The university-level plan has been updated to reflect progress in addressing the recommendations, as well as new information to address improvements in how the Provost’s Office is working to better address some of these issues. You can read the revised report in web-based format or PDF format by selecting the relevant link below.

College, School & Institute COACHE Web Pages

Each college, school and the Institute for Biomedical Sciences was directed to create their own unit-level plans to take action on the COACHE survey results. These units have now created their own web pages to keep their communities up-to-date on the latest within their college, school or institute.

Links to the web page listings and access for downloads of unit-level plans (at the Provost’s Office website document library) are located below. Plans can be downloaded a la carte, or in one single ZIP file archive.

Pollitik, a public opinion lab where students working with Professor Ryan Carlin found fascinating results in analyzing public opinion surveys regarding international leaders and whether the public in their respective countries rally around leaders who contracted COVID-19. Click here to read the Washington Post article.

Mapping Atlanta, aimed at public-facing mapping projects, including a mapping project of a UNESCO World Heritage Civil Rights Trail and an oral history map for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Museum.

The Phoenix Project, using the MARTA Archaeological Collection of the Anthropology Department that contains artifacts and material remains found by university archaeologists during the transit system’s initial rail line construction in 1970s. Students learn about photography, 3D modeling, curation, geographic information systems, and more.

Mediamaking and Mobility, which had students examine Atlanta’s street and transportation system, mobility, what communities were they designed for, and how communities were affected by transportation planning decisions. Students learn how to gather oral histories and perspectives from the community, while also learning media production and geography.

In the preliminary analysis, students in the EPIC group and in a non-EPIC group were matched carefully for 11 variables, including (but not limited to) age, gender, race, first-generation college student status, Pell Grants, high school grade point average (GPA), expected family contribution and other factors.

After examining the cumulative GPAs of both groups over two years at Georgia State, on average the EPIC group earned a GPA of 3.062, compared to a GPA of 2.726 among non-EPIC students. When Honors students are removed from the groups, that difference grows to over a half grade point.

Further, the analysis indicated that EPIC can help to solve a different student achievement problem: the likelihood of a student earning a D or F, or withdrawing from a course entirely, known in higher education statistics and research as a DFW.

DFW rates as a whole can be used to gauge how students may struggle with courses in the core curriculum. If students earn a DFW in these early, foundational courses, they ultimately may be less likely to progress to degree completion.

From the preliminary analysis, results indicate that EPIC mitigated DFWs among one of Georgia State’s critical student populations – first-generation college students.

These PDFs from Georgia State University’s Legal Affairs department provide instructions for faculty and instructors to request the takedown of their specific materials found on different homework help websites, including Course Hero, GradeBuddy and Chegg. The documents include information about the process, copyright laws, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

As approved by the University Senate, August 2020:

Georgia State Online Progress Report

It’s early in the development of Georgia State Online, but we’re already reaching one of the highest numbers of online offerings in the state across all degree levels as we continue to add more options for people to find their path towards earning a Georgia State University degree.

While an online student’s transcript will not indicate graduation from an online program, tracking of online students and program is still critically important for the institution. As of Fall 2021, the ONL attribute for students and coding for programs in Banner was put in place to provide the most accurate data for the University.

A revised Online Program Enrollment Growth Incentive was recently approved by Provost Hensel and Jerry Rackliffe, Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration. You can learn more about the incentive model on the CETLOE website.

A substantial investment to grow online enrollments through digital marketing campaigns is ramping up at Georgia State Online. The campaigns are designed to promote the Georgia State Online brand and amplify public awareness of the broad array of online programs offered at Georgia State University. Reach out to the new Director of Marketing and Communications, Nancy Byron, for more information or to schedule a consultation for marketing online programs at the school, college, or program level at [email protected].

Faculty Support for Fall

As you make your final preparations for Fall semester, take advantage of these helpful CETLOE resources.

Schedule a Support Session with a Learning Technologist

Visit the CETLOE homepage to schedule an on-campus or online support session by selecting the link below.

Upcoming Events

From iCollege workshops to part-time faculty development day, see upcoming events to help you prepare for Fall and beyond.

Custom Workshops

CETLOE can design and develop custom workshops for academic departments, faculty, student groups, classes or course projects

Recordings

Browse recordings of past workshops to find the right topic for you on your own time.

Coming Soon: The Return of the Diversity Dialogues

Last year’s inaugural Diversity Dialogue series brought together the university community to discuss ways to address racism and inequality. The Diversity Dialogues are part of the action plan to address the recommendations of the Task Force for Racial Equality.

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the return of the series for the 2021-22 academic year.

The schedule for 2021-22 and event topics will be announced via campus email to students, faculty and staff in a few weeks. Keep an eye out for the email, and if you missed any of the 2020-21 series, select the link below to access the event recordings.

Update or Add Your Program/Initiative In the Diversity Database

The Diversity Database at the Georgia State Diversity, Equity & Inclusion website serves as a searchable information hub for DEI programs and initiatives from across the university, with more than 140 listings.

After the database’s successful launch in 2020, the DEI team is looking to keep the Diversity Database fresh and relevant to the entire Georgia State community and beyond.

Do you have an existing program/initiative listing that you need to update? Or is your program/initiative not in the database?  Check out the links below to update or add your program/initiative.

Thank you for ensuring that we have the latest information!

The Resource Library

Georgia State is a large institution, and when it comes to DEI matters, at first it might be hard to find what you need, such as a service, department, or policies. Are you looking for any of the following?

• A book or publication
• Policies or procedures
• Help in locating services and departments
• Publications on allyship
• Film or multimedia listings
• Data and Statistics
• On-demand training courses
• Maps and directories

The Resource Library at the DEI website has you covered. With more than 200 listings, this virtual library can be searched by keyword and resource type to find what you need. You can also browse by resource type among the virtual “shelves” if you’re interested in perusing listings in the library.

You can also help the Georgia State community by contributing publications, books, film listings, or other types of resources to this virtual library.

Select the link below to get started at the Resource Library!

Religious Observances & Student Absences/Accommodations

Many students observe religious holidays essential to the practice of their faith. Because there are a large number of faiths represented at Georgia State, it is difficult to provide a comprehensive list of all religious holidays. The DEI website has you covered with a listing of commonly observed holidays among the Georgia State community, along with helpful links to broader calendars of many more observances across faiths.

You can also learn more about religious observances and student absence/accommodation policies at the DEI site.

Select the link below for further information.

The DEI News Feed and DEI Events Calendar

There’s a lot going on around diversity, equity and inclusion at Georgia State. Make sure to follow the latest updates at the DEI News Feed and the DEI Events Calendar listed below.

Georgia State University faculty have earned $142 million in research funding in fiscal year 2021, the third highest total in university history.

The funding comes from federal government agencies, private nonprofits, large corporations and the state of Georgia, among other sources. The total includes $44.8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $14.6 million from the U.S. Department of Education, $11.5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and $8.2 million from the Georgia Department of Human Services.

Thirty-seven faculty members were awarded more than $1 million, a university record. Among the university’s top 20 grant recipients, half are women.

Read more at the Georgia State News Hub, including key grants won by Georgia State researchers to support investigations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as more details about highlighted major grants received in FY ’21.

Georgia State Researchers Join $20 Million Project To Harness Artificial Intelligence, Transform Online STEM Education For Adults

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it is investing $20 million in a collaborative effort by Georgia universities, the Technical College System of Georgia and other partners to leverage artificial intelligence to transform adult learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

Led by the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), the effort unites experts in computer science, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive science, learning science and education from Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, the Technical College System of Georgia, Arizona State University, Boeing, Drexel University, Harvard University, IBM, IMS Global and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Wiley.

The 5-year NSF grant will establish the NSF AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (ALOE) to be headquartered at Georgia Tech, one of 11 NSF AI research institutes.

Georgia State will be responsible for the learning analytics portion of the grant, said Scott Crossley, a member of the research team and professor of Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language at the university. Min Kyu Kim, assistant professor in Learning Sciences in Georgia State’s College of Education & Human Development, will serve as co-lead for learning analytics.

Read more via the link below.

Biomedical Sciences Research Center Will Focus on Developing Much-Needed Affordable Antiviral Drugs

The Center for Translational Antiviral Research has been established in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University to fill the gap for developing affordable, much-needed antiviral drugs that will reduce severe viral diseases and meet the threats imposed by existing and newly evolving viruses.

The research center will focus primarily on RNA virus pathogens of high pandemic potential, such as the coronaviruses, influenza viruses and paramyxoviruses such as Nipah virus.

The center will focus on translating basic discoveries into applicable therapeutic candidates. It will bring together an interdisciplinary group of faculty skilled in scientific collaboration to harness Georgia State’s unique strengths in RNA virus research, antiviral drug discovery and high-biocontainment infectious disease research.

Elliott Albers Receives 2021 Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetime Achievement Award

Elliott Albers, Regents’ Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience at Georgia State University, has been awarded the 2021 Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetime Achievement Award in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology by the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology (SBN).

The award honors the achievements of distinguished investigators in the field, including their role in public education and outreach.

Albers has conducted pioneering studies in two different areas of research central to behavioral neuroendocrinology: the neural control of biological rhythms and the neurobiology of social behavior. He has published more than 170 papers, and his research has been funded without interruption for nearly 40 years by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. Most recently, he was the co-recipient of a $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study sex differences in social reward.

As director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience since 2002, Albers has supported the growth of neuroscience research and degree programs at Georgia State and other Atlanta institutions. Established in 1999 with a $37 million grant from the National Science Foundation and $16 million from the Georgia Research Alliance, the center laid the groundwork for the creation of the university’s Neuroscience Institute in 2008. The inter-institutional collaboration is supported by Georgia State, Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine and Atlanta University Center’s four member schools.

The J. Rhodes Haverty Lecture with Dr. David Satcher, Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.

The lecture will be held Tuesday, October 5 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Speaker’s Auditorium on the Georgia State campus. A virtual option is also available. The lecture is free and open to the public; however, reservations are required. Further information about registration is forthcoming and will be distributed by campus email, posted on the university calendar, and posted on the Lewis College website.

Dr. Satcher is the founding director and senior advisor for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, and is a physician-scientist and public health administrator with an extensive track record of leadership, research and community engagement.

He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College. He holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University, where he was also elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.

Dr. Satcher served as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States (1998-2002) and the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services (1998-2001).  He also served as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Further information about registration, livestream options, and other details will be posted by the Lewis College early this semester. If you have questions, contact [email protected].

School of Public Health: John R. Lutzker Lecture Sept. 20 & Kreuter Katz Lecture on Health Equity Nov. 3

John R. Lutzker Lecture

Monday, September 20 at 2pm
Speaker: Dr. Michael Lindsey
Topic: Suffering in Silence: Identifying Suicidal Behavior in Black Youth and Creating a Research, Policy and Practice Agenda
For more information, visit https://publichealth.gsu.edu/about/lectures-exhibits/the-john-r-lutzker-lecture/.

Kreuter Katz Lecture on Health Equity

Wednesday, November 3 at 2pm
Speaker: Dr. Sandro Galea
Topic: Inequality and the COVID-19 Pandemic: How We Got Here and Where to Go Next
For more information visit https://publichealth.gsu.edu/about/lectures-exhibits/kreuter-katz-lecture-on-health-equity/

Dr. Mindy Stombler was appointed as Faculty Associate for Achievement and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Faculty Affairs, effective August 1.

A principal senior lecturer in sociology, Dr. Stombler has served as the Faculty Associate for Non-Tenure Track (NTT) Faculty Development and Review in the College of Arts and Sciences. In this capacity, she has been responsible for developing and implementing targeted efforts to support faculty development. These efforts included orienting new faculty, extensive mentoring, crafting programming, contributing to the faculty promotion and structured review process, and leading college level conversations about NTT concerns and recommended action items. In addition, she participated in promotion sessions for non-tenure-track faculty and served on the University NTT Manual Revision Committee.

Dr. Stombler is an instructional expert. She was Director of Instruction in the Department of Sociology for nearly two decades. Dr. Stombler was awarded the Southern Sociological Society’s Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award; the American Sociological Association’s Carla B. Howery Award for Developing Teacher-Scholars; the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Leadership and Online Education’s inaugural Pedagogical Mentorship Award; and the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award twice. The Georgia Sociological Association also named her Sociologist of the Year.

Dr. Stombler received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Florida State University and joined the Sociology Department at Georgia State in 2000. Her areas of expertise are sexuality, social inequality and pedagogy. She has coauthored multiple editions of two textbooks: Sex Matters (W.W. Norton) and Focus on Social Problems (Oxford University Press).