September 2022

Congratulations to the following UT students on passing the Probability (Exam P) and the Financial Mathematics (Exam FM) administered by the Society of Actuaries. Since UT started the Actuarial Science major in Fall 2020, UT actuarial science students have been successful in passing SOA exams.

Passed Exam P (Probability)

• Haley Ruggles
• Abbey Hill
• Morgan Woods
• Noah Segal
• Steven Downs

Passed Exam FM (Financial Mathematics)

• Abbey Hill
• Noah Segal
• Morgan Woods
• Tia Walker

Senior psychology major Destin Rothe completed a summer research internship at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI) at the University of South Florida (USF). He worked under the mentorship of Dr. Kathleen Moore on a study examining caregiver knowledge about the impact of Delta-8 THC on children and adolescents. Destin will extend his internship for the upcoming academic year. Together with Dr. Moore and the Hillsborough County Anti Drug Alliance (HCADA), he is currently developing information sessions as part of a campaign to educate caregivers about the risks of minors being unintentionally exposed to Delta-8 THC products. The work at FMHI has inspired Destin to consider pursuing a career in research and to undertake a Senior Thesis, under the mentorship of Drs. Erica Yuen and Cynthia Gangi, where he will investigate college students’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and intentions to behave regarding Delta-8 THC.

On April 20, 2022, the applied sociology department held its spring sociology award and Alpha Kappa Delta induction ceremony. During the ceremony, Dr. Damien Contessa presented applied sociology student (now alumna) Leah Daniels with the student of the year award. At the induction ceremony, the fourteen newest members of Alpha Kappa Delta were also honored to celebrate their accomplishments!

Abhilash Kancharla, assistant teaching professor of computer science, and Alex Butler, environmental science senior have collaborated on a project to develop a mobile application for a non-profit organization, Blue Green Connections Inc. The app provides education on various wildlife in and around Florida, as well as the precautions to take when encountering them. The app has been recently published on iOS Store and the android version is being worked on right now. (View the app here:  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fgc-hope-spot/id1635759363.)

Dr. Kathryn A. Branch, assistant dean and professor of criminology, co-authored, Compassion Fatigue among Criminology & Criminal Justice Interns with Dr. Carly Hilinski-Rosick, chair and associate professor of criminology, and Anayah Walker, assistant director for diverse student support services for Journal of Criminal Justice Education. The research presented attempts to explore how student interns working with adult and juvenile victims experience stress in their internship roles and how they deal with that stress.

Nathan Connealy, assistant professor of criminology, recently published an article in Justice Quarterly titled The Influence, Saliency, and Consistency of Environmental Crime Predictors: A Probability Score Matching Approach to Test What Makes a Hot Spot Hot. The article examines the environmental composition of hot spot areas across a range of crime types and indicates that the presence of decay is especially prominent. The research has the potential to impact future researcher and practitioner studies and interventions in high crime hot spots.

Supervising Instructional Design and Technology M.S. internships for graduate students, Assistant Professor Suzanne Ensmann connected scholars Dai Holmes and Ryne Burds with Professor Mary Anderson to pursue researching the need for and the opportunity to engage UT students in their civil rights. The interns developed modules to educate learners on how to get out and vote, and the partnership worked with the BAC program to align the content to the Spartan Studies. Partnering with several subject matter experts, Dai states, “UT’s ​ALL-IN for Democracy of Coalition function as a team, they are energized and well versed in the educational needs of students' perception of voting in an election. Working alongside the team has strengthened my [desire] to further encourage our students of the opportunities available to them as young voters.” Dr. Edesa Scarborough, Director of First-Year Experience Center for Teaching and Learning, has confirmed that the modules are due to be piloted in courses this academic year!

Over the course of the summer, Dr. Patty O’Grady worked with Harvard and MIT faculty and students as a learning curriculum consultant on a national project that focuses on Student Mental Health. The project is a digital start-up company that focuses on preventative, proactive education in the area of adolescent mental health. Harvard and MIT are co-developing a digital platform to deliver secondary education in positive psychology with attention to grit, deferred gratification, and impulse control. The project harnesses Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a means to supplement learning with bite-sized content in mental health, partner with parents as well as students, track evidence of efficacy, and provide a “high touch” component that connects enrolled students with graduate students in education/psychology. The project will be piloted in Fall 2022.The project is committed to developing and disseminating an evidence-based mental health solution that is not only effective but effective at scale.

Part-time faculty, Nicolè M. Ford's article titled Placing the 2020 Belarusian Protests in Historical Context: Political Attitudes and Participation during Lukashenko's Presidency was recently published as a special issue by Cambridge University Press.

Psychology faculty Dr. Sarah Orban, Dr. Sara Festini, and Dr. Erica Yuen published a meta-analysis on verbal memory interference in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the Journal of Attention Disorders. This meta-analytic review examined memory interference to determine whether people with ADHD are more susceptible to proactive, retroactive, and memory control interference. 

Dr. Sara Festini recently published a journal article in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience that discusses, “Busyness, Mental Engagement, and Stress: Relationships to Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior”. Dr. Festini's article

considers existing evidence as well as future research directions aimed at characterizing the effects of a busy lifestyle on neurocognitive aging and behavior. 

Associate Professor Renee Patrick coauthored, Combining Parenting Strategies in Discipline Encounters: Influences on Moral Internalization in Adolescence in the Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development. This research examined young adults’ descriptions and evaluations of their parents’ responses to moral transgressions they committed during middle or high school. Findings indicate that adolescents may internalize parental reasoning best when mothers react to moral transgressions with a combination of induction (i.e., pointing out the harm done to a hurt other) and mild power assertion (e.g., removing privileges).

Dr. Pina Holway co-authored an article with Dr. Karin L. Brewster and Dr. Kathryn Harker Tillman of Florida State University titled, Motivations for Maintaining Virginity Among US Adolescents published in Journal of Adolescent Health.

Dr. Holway also delivered a virtual presentation for the 2022 annual meeting of the Population Association of America this past April. 

J.E. Sumerau, director of applied sociology and associate professor, published a short story titled "Tulifinny" in the tenth issue of Blood & Bourbon titled Catastrophe. (Now available for purchase here.)

Dr. Pina Holway and Dr. J.E. Sumerau published their article, “Transgender Possibilities and the Cisgendering of Family among Cisgender Women.” in Symbolic Interaction. The article examines vocabularies of motive concerning the possibility of transgender partners and children.

Binod Rimal

Data Science

Lauren Miley

Criminology 

Jordan Land

Criminology

Heather Schock

Education

Patrick O'Brien

History

Anibar Dawn

Mathematics

Douglas Pfeffer

Mathematics

Belisa Marochi

Political Science

Jessica Jordan

Psychology

Forest Rosenfeld

Psychology

Fae Chubin

Sociology

Colin Anderson

Legal Studies (Not pictured)

Ron Arbisi

History (Not pictured)

In May 2022, recent graduate Alley Rodriguez presented the findings from her honors thesis at the Association for Psychological Science national convention in Chicago. Under the supervision of

Dr. Sara Festini, her research found that face masks degrade our ability to remember face-name associations more than people predict.

Drs. James López and Denis Rey, Co-Directors of the Center for José Martí Studies Affiliate (CJMSA), were awarded $235,000 to host the 2023 Summer Institute, “The Immigrant Communities of Florida and José Martí in Cuban Independence and the Dawn of the American Century.” UT will host 30 scholars for the month-long seminar from June 19th to July 14th. Participants will hear lectures, presentations, and panel discussions from around a dozen visiting lecturers, learning every facet of the social, economic, and political lives of those who helped organize the Cuban War of Independence, and arguably, launch the American century. This Level 2 grant (a previous NEH Summer Institute Grant was awarded in 2018) also provides funding for community and educational outreach that will help promote scholarship and teaching. The two professors propose to host a workshop for local high school educators and organize an academic conference in 2024.

Dr. Alper Yayla, Director of Cybersecurity Programs at UT, and Dr. Jean Gourd, Chair of Computer Science were awarded $116,704 to host a free cybersecurity camp offered in partnership with GenCyber. The program, which is funded by the National Security Agency, aims to educate students about appropriate and safe online behavior and spark their interest in a career in cybersecurity.

The Elizabeth Thompson Todd Scholarship for a UT student majoring in Education, has been created to honor the memory of Elizabeth Thompson Todd by her family and friends. Elizabeth graduated from Clemson University in Elementary Education and was a teacher for nearly 25 years. She loved children and translated that love into her teaching. Elizabeth was a staunch advocate for all children and believed that all children be given the chance to learn. Her dedication and devotion to the profession of teaching art was second-to-none. 

In today’s world, we have come to understand that heroes can be everyday people, …. they are nurses, doctors, firefighters, policemen and yes teachers. These heroes are special in everyday life, usually in uncommon ways…and almost everyone has a common thread of a teacher they fondly remember and appreciate for their support and encouragement. Elizabeth embodied this spirit, as she was a hero to many. 

Elizabeth is survived by her husband of nearly 35 years, Keith, and her only daughter Kara Todd Reid.

Associate professor, Khyam Paneru received a $1500 grant from Casualty Actuaries of the Southeast (CASE) to support the actuarial science program at the University of Tampa.

Student voting at the University of Tampa was ranked among the best by Washington Monthly. UT's civic commitment has resulted in increased voter participation and engagement. It is all due to a campus-wide initiative led by the nonpartisan ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge coalition, led by Dr. Mary Anderson, Faculty Director, Ian McGinnity, Director of the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement, and members of the UT and Tampa communities. Having shared this news with us, Mary took the time to say that she was very excited about the steps they'd taken to make this list, but more importantly about the actions that are helping students become more responsible citizens. (Read the full article here .)

As part of UT's Week of Welcome, the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education held its New Student Convocation to welcome all first-year students in Falk Theatre on August 27. Walking to Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance", Dr. Benjamin Marsh led the processional of faculty followed by the Dean of College, Dr. Jack M. Geller, down the aisle of Falk Theatre onto its stage. Students had the opportunity to hear the welcome address from the Assistant Dean, Dr. Kathryn A. Branch, faculty speaker, Dr. Jennifer Blessing, student speaker, Morgan Woods, and dean's address by Dr. Jack M. Geller. 

If you have an upcoming event that you would like advertised in the newsletter, please send your event information to Sasha Cunillera at scunillera@ut.edu

• Sep 12–Office of Career Services hosts Amgen for Employer Spotlight. SFB RM 117/2:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M.
• Sep 16– Last day to withdraw from 7-week and 14-week classes
• Sep 21–Peer Review: Formative Processes and Benefits via Zoom. Contact: amstewart@ut.edu
• Sep 22–Study Abroad Application Workshop.

            LIB AV2/ 2:00 P.M.-3:00 P.M.

• Sep 27–Last day to withdraw from first 7-week classes