FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES // SEPTEMBER 2019
IN PRINT
  Deidre Gonsalves-Jackson   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, 12
(1), 19-27.

New York University Press just released Terry Lindvall's new book,  
"God on the Big Screen : A H i sto r y of Hollywood Prayers from the Silent Era to Today." The book is being adapted for a feature docum entary film. See Stu Minnis' "Cries of the Heart" trailer.   
 
President Scott D. Miller authors a monthly 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 (" The Advantages of Social Media for College Presidents," July 2019). This piece also appeared in University Business (August/September 2019). He also edits the presidential thought series, President to President (" Educating the Environmental Stewards of Tomorrow: Presidential Leadership and Climate Change," September 2019). His daily blog about campus life can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com.
 
Lisa Lyon Payne, along with three co-authors, published "Understanding Communities in Student Newsrooms" in Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication. The study examines how individuals learn a shared practice in social environments like a student newsroom. In particular, student journalists experience a heightened sense of responsibility to their community and ability to confront criticism and conflict from audiences. "Teachable Moment: Fostering Communities of Practice in Student Newsrooms," was co-authored by Lisa Lyon Payne and published in the proceedings for the 2019 World Journalism Education Congress. The paper was presented in Paris by one of the three co-authors, Kirstie Hettinga of California Lutheran University.
 
Jill Sturts co-authored three articles published in a special edition of Schole: A Journal of Leisure Studies and Recreation Education. The special issue focuses on the academic profession within the fields of parks, recreation, tourism, and leisure. 
 
Susan Wansink's translation of the novel Kenton BLAU Die Leipziger Tagebücher 1986-1987 by German author Kai Reininghaus, entitled "The Sound Behind the Wall: An East German Underground Story" is available on Amazon.  The story chronicles the life of a young musician who makes his way to the city of Leipzig to form an underground band, after his release from the East German army.
PRESENTATIONS AND PANELS
Joyce Easter attended
the 17th Annual POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) National Meeting in St.Louis to continue work on the POGIL Project Strategic Planning. She presented the "Facilitators Toolbox," a new workshop she co-authored, and is serving as chair of the "Collaborative Dissemination" working group for this academic year.
 
Joyce Easter also served on the conference planning committee, pres ented "Activity Writing Strategies," and moderated several s essions at the 2019 National Conference for Advanced POGIL Practitioners at Washington University in St. Louis.
 
Joyce Easter presented the poster "Use of dynamic models to develo p s cientific process skills," facilitated several sessions in the Classroom Facilitation Track and t he Activity Writing Track, and served as the Graduate Credit Coordinator at the POGIL Summer 3-day W orkshop at Capital University in Columbus, OH. 
 
Joyce Easter attended the 2019 New Bonner Directors and Coordinators Orie ntation meeting at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ.
 
Paul Ewell presented a paper entitled "A Case for Character: Leadership Lessons from a 19th-century Eastern Shore Schooner Captain" at the Chesapeake Studies Conference at Salisbury University.    
 
Deidre Gonsalves-Jackson, Margaret Reese and Gabi Martorell presented "Student retention in a STEM scholars program at small liberal arts institution" at the Virginia Academy of Science at Old Dominion University. 
 
Maury Howard accompanied six current and former students:  
Michael Class
('19), Noah Craft ('20), Elizabeth Hipple ('19), Arika Marosi ('19), Gavin Steel ('19), Philip Venanzi ('19), to the US EPA's People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) National Student Design Expo (NSDE) at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Boston, MA where they showcased the results of their Phase I project, "Vermicompost from Stormwater Phycoremediation," authored by E. Malcolm, M. Howard, P. Rock, K. Henry, X. Wang (ODU), M. Reese, W. McConnell, A. Marosi, N. Craft, E. Hipple,G. Steel, P. Venanzi, M. Class, W. Canady.
 
George Jackson traveled to Montreal, Canada, to attend the 94th Annua l Meeting of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, and presented his paper, "Yet Another Tax Code Task: An Expanded Role in Addressing Economic Inequality."
 
Brian Kurisky was invited to serve on a panel at the Council for Independent Colleges/AARP Intergenerational Connections conference in Washington DC. At the conference, he presented on Marlins Te(a)ch program. 
 
Victor Townsend, Jr. co-authored two presentations at the 43rd annual meeting of the American Arachnological Society, which included new insights into the biology of cosmetid nymphs, with Maynard Schaus an d Daniel Proud, and Redefining the genus Erginulus (Opiliones, Lani
atores, Cosmetidae) with Daniel Proud.  
 
Kelly Well's (VWU Class of '13) and Paul Ewell presented research entitled "Our Evaporating Working Waterfronts" at the 2019 Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Archeology held in Chicago, Illinois in June 2019.  


 
Denise Wilkinson attended the Teaching and Learning conference at Elon University in North Carolina in August. The theme of the conference was "Cultivating Curiosity."
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Kathy Ames led a workshop about using the OpenSCAD coding language to design models for 3D printing at Tidewater Collegiate Academy's Coding Camp. Students coded their own medallions which were then printed on one of VWU's 3D printers.
 
Sue Erickson and Regina Cotter have been accepted to participate in this year's cohort of the Women's Virginia Network Senior Leadership Council. They will attend seminars at Shenandoah University in September and in Richmond in January as part of the program. 
 
Mort Gamble has been reappointed to the Executive Committee of Volunteer Hampton Roads. VHR, which supports area not-for-profit organizations, now has its headquarters on the Virginia Wesleyan University campus. 
 
Phil Guilfoyle included several pieces in the exhibition "Art of the Functional" at the Suffolk Art Gallery, in Suffolk, Virginia.
 
  Philip Guilfoyle was one of 12 artists invited to create work that included tromp l'oiel items left behind by the late ceramic artis
t and University of Delaware Professor, Victor Spinski, for an exhibitio n tit led "Shucks, Spinski Redux!" at West Chester University through the month of September. The exhibition is then e xpected to travel to additional exhibition venues for two years.
 
 
Benjamin Haller was elected to the Diversity Committee of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. In this capacity, he will help organize a panel at the spring meeting of CAMWS and present a paper entitled: "Your Friendly Neighborhood Cultural Relativist Cyclops: Antifa, Marx, and Other Straw Men of Contemporary American Hate Groups."
 
George Jackson attended the Beyster Symposium in La Jolla, CA, where he received the J. Robert Beyster Fellowship. Beyster Fellows support the work of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. Jackson's research will address ways in which the Internal Revenue Code can support broad-based employee ownership.

Popular Culture Association president Kathy Merlock Jackson participated in the association's strategic planning meeting in Bowling Green, OH. She also served as a facilitator for PCA's Summer Research Institute at the Ray and Pat Browne Library for Popular Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University. Her presentation, "Exploring Methodology," was part of a roundtable.
 
Taryn Myers was quoted in the online publication Romper in an article entitled "7 Signs Social Media Is Making You Feel Bad, According to Experts."  
 
Modupe Oshikoya won
the 2018 the APCG (African Politics Conference Group) Lynne Rienner Best Dissertation in African Politics award.
 
Jennifer Slivka was elected to the Executive Board of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures (IASIL) as a representative for North America for the 2019-2022 term. IASIL is the largest and most prestigious association in Irish Literary Studies and has over 900 members from 35 different countries.
 
Denise Wilkinson served as a manuscript peer reviewer for The Virginia Mathematics Teacher journal.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
   
Students in Bill McConnell's summer session of EDUC 366 developed and im plemented environmental science activities with participants from Camp Red Feather. The primary focus for VWU students was managing the behavior of the camper s during the engaging and often messy activi t ies they planned.
 
In partnership with Deirdre Gonsalves Jackson, Maury Howard, Elizabeth Malcolm, Katrina Henry and Victor Townsend, students in Bill McConnell's EDUC 540 and INST 482 assisted participants in learning about environmental science during the 2nd annual Virginia Wesleyan Environmental Institute: Summer Scholars. VWU students led engaging learning activities and collected and analyzed data for program evaluation.
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