FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES // October 2019
IN PRINT
Kathy Stolley was invited to write a guest piece for "Animals and Us" for Psychology Today. Titled " Does Your Dog Really Want a Trip to the Beauty Parlor?," the post highlights evolving human-animal relationships.
     
Bill McConnell co-authored an article entitled, "Different Strokes for Different Folks" in the September issue of Science & Children, a journal published by the National Science Teaching Association. The article provided cross-curricular differentiation strategies for inclusion classrooms.

Old Men of the Bible: Comic Reflections on Faith and Aging  by co-authors Craig Wansink a nd Terry Lindvall (along with 90-year-old cartoonist John Lawing) has been published by Smyth an d Helwys and would make a great holiday gift for fathers and grandfathers.
 
Larry Hultgren presented a paper titled, "The Medical Humanities: A Life," as part of the ninth annual Medical Humanities Conference at the Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.


Victo r Townsend
 published an original research article in the Journal of Morphology entitled, "Interspecific, ontogenetic and sexual variation in ozopore morphology among cosmetid harvestmen." The article features two high-school student co-authors, including Devin Calpo, first-year student in the Batten Honors College. This is the 19th publication featuring research conducted in the SEM lab since 2012.
 
Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson, Margaret Reese and Gabi Martorell published the article, "Strategies for Student Retention in STEM at a Small Liberal Arts Institution" in the Journal of Virginia Science Education.
 
President Scott D. Miller authors a higher education column for  The Virginian-Pilot , including the most recent "  A 'climate' change taking place on U.S. campuses " (August 2019). Dr. Miller was invited to submit a narrative describing VWU's institutional transformation for  Business Officer  magazine (" Position for Strength ," July/August 2019). He regularly contributes to  College Planning and Management  ("  Maintaining Enrollment Momentum , March 2019) and  Enrollment Manager  ("  Position for Strength: Staying Relevant and Competitive in Higher Education ," September 2019). An article Dr. Miller co-authored recently appeared in University Business (" The advantages of social media for college presidents,"  August/September 2019). He also edits the presidential thought series,  President to President  (" Building an Innovation Culture in Higher Education, " October 2019). As chair of Second Nature's Climate Leadership Network, Dr. Miller was asked to weigh in on the importance of environmental education, as well as carbon neutrality challenges for institutions, in a new article from  E&E News/Climatewire (" Colleges commit to carbon neutrality. Getting there is hard ," October 2019).  His daily blog about campus life can be found at  prezscottmiller.blogspot.com . 
PRESENTATIONS AND PANELS
Doug Kennedy, along with Patti Freeman of Brigham Young University, presented "Creating the Connections: Building a Culture of Assessment" at the National Recreation and Park Association's National Congress in Baltimore. During this session he reviewed VWU's Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies' nationally recognized assessment program.
 
Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson, Margaret Reese and Gabi Martorell presented "Student retention in a STEM scholars program at a small liberal arts institution" at the Virginia Academy of Scien ce at Old Dominion University.
 
Micaela Morris presented on a panel for the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for Virginia. The theme was "Culture of Courage." She spoke about getting students energized about environmental concerns in the world and how to find their voice. 
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Joyce Easter served on the planning committee for Virginia's Collegiate Honors Council 2019 Fall Conference. She attended the conference with Batten Honors College students Alex Powers ('21), Anitra Howard ('22), Hailey Schumacher ('22) and Devin Calpo ('23).
 
Sherry Matis was appointed to the Virginia Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee.  The committee is charged with upholding "...the value of intellectual freedom in Virginia's libraries by monitoring and reporting on intellectual freedom issues in the Commonwealth."  Sherry represents the library, working with Wesleyan Engaged and Marlins Vote, on the campus' voter registration/education initiative.  
 
Mort Gamble has drafted seven chapters of a biography of former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey trapeze star-turned-circus manager, Arthur M. Concello. The book's co-author is Maureen Brunsdale of the Milner Library at Illinois State University. At least three more chapters are contemplated. Concello worked for the Ringling circus off and on from the 1930's through the 1960's.

Taryn Myers was quoted in the following publications:

The online publication Beauty Independent in an article entitled "How Body Positive Is the Beauty Industry Really?"
 
Yahoo! Lifestyle's online publication Fatherly in an article entitled "How to (Responsibly) Talk to Girls about Losing or Gaining Weight."  
 
The online publication Romper in an article entitled "How to stop comparing yourself to others, according to experts.

The online publication HealthiNation in an article entitled "Do Fitness Trackers Cause Anxiety? What the Experts Say." 
 
The online publication SingleCare in an article entitled "How finding a support system can boost maternal mental health and aid in breastfeeding."  

Doug Kennedy was elected Vice-Chair of the Council on Accreditation of Park, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions at its annual meeting.
 
Brian Kurisky received a $1,250 grant for Marlins Vote from the Young Invincibles, a non-partisan engagement organization, to continue the nationally recognized work Marlins Vote is doing to encourage engagement on and off the campus.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Kathy Ames and Turner, a certified therapy dog, were guest presenters in Kathy Stolley's
"Animals and Criminal Justice" class. The class addressed legal distinctions between service, emotional support, and therapy animals. Turner has also made an appearance as a therapy dog in the Hofheimer Library during exam week.  
 
The "Animals and Criminal Justice" class, taught by Kathy Stolley, took field trips to the Virginia Beach Mounted Patrol and the Norfolk K-9 facility to learn more about how those units train and work.
Very special thank you to Dr. Ben Haller, Associate Professor of Classics, for proposing "The Pharos" (the Greek word for lighthouse) as the new name for this publication.
Read the current issue or archives of The Pharos