First Monday AN UPDATE FROM THE PROVOST | May 2024

COGER'S CORNER

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

I hope everyone enjoyed graduation festivities last Friday. Congratulations to all Spring 2024 Pirate Graduates (and to their families and friends) for achieving this important milestone. A sincere thank you to the faculty, staff, and scholarship donors for your contributions toward helping our students persist to degree completion.

I probably mentioned in the past that commencement is my favorite ECU event. I don’t recall, however, if I ever explained why. Graduation is a visual reminder of the many people who engage in assisting students on the road to becoming graduation candidates. For me, commencement is symbolic of our shared purpose as university citizens; each of us doing our part to help students to learn, grow, achieve, advance forward, and ultimately earn degrees as successful ECU graduates who are ready for the next phase of their professional journeys. At commencement the excitement in the air is both powerful and contagious -- as the graduates, the audience members, and the speakers all align in the goodwill we envision for the graduates.

Just as commencement is a beginning of the next phase for our graduates, it also often marks a transition for many members of our university community. Whether you are a 12 month, 9 month or temporary employee, it is likely that you are shifting your attention to one or more things that you want to complete this week, this month, and/or this summer. I wish you all success in meeting your deadlines and accomplishing the goals you have set. For everyone engaging in the University orientations for new students, faculty or staff – thank you for helping to successfully onboard our new members of the Pirate Nation. As you focus on achieving deliverables, please also remember to schedule in rejuvenation time with family and friends. This is always important, but especially necessary in times of accelerated change.

I am grateful to each of you for the part you personally played in ECU’s successes throughout the 2023-2024 academic year. It may have been a research grant you attracted, a student competition in which you engaged, a difficult concept you invested extra time to help others understand, a new team member you welcomed, or a new idea or different point of view you took time to consider. Thank you for every time you took action in a way that made your team, your unit, or this University better.

On behalf of all of us in Academic Affairs, we hope you enjoy this issue of First Monday. September 2024 will be our next issue to provide a short hiatus to all the wonderful contributors who make each issue possible.

Go Pirates!

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BY THE NUMBERS

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IPAR DATA BYTE

Did you know that the average time-to-degree of graduating students admitted as first-year / freshmen has decreased by 6% over the past seven years? In 2022 - 2023, the average time-to-degree was 3.65 academic years, down from 3.87 academic years in 2016 - 2017. Visit our Graduation dashboard to view more information about ECU’s graduating students.

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AROUND ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

ADVISING

Advising Collaborative

The Academic Advising Collaborative held its annual Advising Awards on April 24, 2024. This is the 12th year of this recognition program. The awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated excellence in advising by going “above and beyond” their expected duties. Nominees are judged on the evidence of qualities and practices that distinguish the nominee as an outstanding leader in advising.

2023-2024 Advising Award Recipients

• Advising Administrative Assistant: Andrea Menichelli, Department of Economics
• Advising Partner: Chase Wheaton, Campus Living
• Faculty Advisor: Susannah Berry, College of Health & Human Performance
• New Advisor: Matt Passwater, College of Nursing
• Advisor: Beth Simpson, University Studies
• Advising Administrator: Kiya Bolds, University Studies
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Carlester Crumpler, Student Athlete Academic Service

Pre-Professional Advising

Four undergraduate students received admission into the UNC Eshleman School of Pharmacy through our Early Assurance Program. The selected students will participate in monthly seminars hosted by UNC ESOP and network with UNC faculty, alumni, and PharmD residents. The students will automatically be admitted to UNC ESOP when they apply provided they maintain the required GPA and earn the necessary grades on remaining prerequisite courses.

The application for the 2025-2026 cohort will be available in December 2024. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2025. Students interested in the program should contact Elizabeth McAllister.

STUDENT ACADEMIC SUCCESS SERVICES

ECU Connect: Summer 2024

Summer Session faculty members will receive prompts to complete ECU Connect surveys that are specifically designed to enhance student connections with resources and facilitate grade performance feedback. Summer Progress Surveys play a vital role in student success by providing valuable course feedback at key intervals throughout the term. Each survey includes tracking items such as Flags, Kudos, and Referrals, providing instructors the opportunity to choose and comment on these items for students in each of their course sections.

Empowering Student Success: ECU CONNECT Referrals with PASC Support: To streamline the process of connecting students with the academic resources they need, we encourage any campus partners to raise a PASC referral and facilitate the connection between students and PASC resources. Student Success staff will proactively reach out to each student referral, ensuring they connect with summer tutoring or specialized study skills assistance.

Below are the raised items that will be present in the summer surveys. Please note, while surveys are a convenient way to provide feedback, instructors can raise all items manually at any time during the session.

Thank you to the following faculty who frequently utilized ECU CONNECT! Our Super Pirates are:

• THCAS - Daniel Culver, Paul Kornegay, Sambuddha Banerjee
• HHP - Bernice Dodor, Jocelyn Ruffin, Deeonna Farr
• COB - Thang Ngo, Craig Marshall, Chris Keller
• CON - Lisa Wilcox, Madeline Fernandez, Tawny Tseng
• CFAC - Wayne Godwin, Ken Wyatt, Drew Ashby-King
• CET - Melinda Doty, Jeanne-Marie Lawrence
• CAHS - Kenn Pritchard, Janice Britt, Lauren Turbeville
• COE - Bethann Cole, Marsha Tripp, David Hildreth

Pirate Academic Success Center

On Saturday, April 6, 17 peer educators from the Pirate Academic Success Center (PASC) and Connect for Success traveled to UNC-Charlotte to participate in the 2024 NC Peer Educator’s Conference. The students presented nine conference sessions focused on best practices in student success services. The NC Peer Educators conference is held annually and brings together students who serve in learning centers throughout North Carolina’s post-secondary campuses. Special thanks to Student Academic Success Services staff members Davis Searcy, Monique Barrett, Bryan Ruffin, and Yolanda Davis who chaperoned the trip.

The following Peer Educators presented at the conference: Makaylia Wilson, Cierra Powell, Allison Pate, Callie Kirby, Max Adkins, Jen McCarthy, Ashton Brown, Makyla McLeod, Marcus Apodaca, Dhwani Hada, Adam Harrison, Ryan Gohi Bi, Nia Burgess, Sarah Chambers, Brandon Damgaard, Jarrod Borders, and London Gwyn.

STEPP

The STEPP Program honored two 2023/2024 Student Employee of the Year nominees for the 2023/2024 Student Employee of the Year: Christina Dowd, the Curriculum & Instruction Intern, and Sam Huffman, the Social Media & Marketing Intern.

Christina Dowd, Curriculum & Instruction Intern

Christina played a vital role in the exploration and implementation of two innovative learning strategies integrated into the STEPP curriculum. She contributed significantly to the redesign of the course syllabus and the development of instructional materials. Thanks to the introduction of the listening and note-taking strategy, student assessment scores saw a remarkable improvement of over 40%. Christina is a Sophomore and is pursuing a degree in Physical Education.

Sam Huffman, Social Media & Marketing Intern

Sam played a pivotal role in crafting impactful social media and marketing initiatives for the STEPP Program. In 2023, alongside Dr. Danielle Dietz, Instructional Specialist, Sam spearheaded the submission of a statewide proclamation to recognize Learning Disabilities Awareness Month by Governor Cooper. Their joint efforts took them to Raleigh in the fall, where they engaged with legislators, shedding light on STEPP Program initiatives and academic initiatives that support the academic success of neurodiverse students at ECU. Dr. Dietz observed, “Sam works across campus to make connections, not for himself, but for the betterment of the individuals he works with and the students he helps support. Sam embodies what it means to be a Pirate and 'to serve.' While he might be 'anonymous' and behind a computer screen, the work that he does impacts countless students and staff across campus, as well as generations of future pirates." Sam is a Senior and is pursuing a Communications degree with a concentration in Journalism.

The Student Employee of the Year Award, sponsored by ECU Human Resources, recognizes student workers who have made significant positive contributions to their department throughout the academic year. Supervisors are invited to submit nomination letters highlighting the student's exemplary workplace attributes, including community service, diversity and inclusion efforts, leadership skills, critical thinking abilities, and contributions to innovation and technology.

The STEPP Program staff express immense pride in our 2023/2024 interns and commend them for their dedicated efforts in furthering the STEPP mission. Heartfelt congratulations to Christina and Sam on their well-deserved nominations!

TrACE

The TrACE Success Program concluded the spring semester on April 24 with a celebratory event honoring 14 May graduates. Launched in Fall 2022 with an initial cohort of 53 students, the TrACE program, supported by a grant from the UNC system, caters specifically to transfer students and operates within the framework of Student Academic Success Services. Now boasting over 100 students, we bid farewell to this inaugural group. Notably, many from the 2022 cohort are either continuing their education at ECU through graduate programs or have secured employment in various industries. The TrACE program extends its best wishes to all our students for much success in their future endeavors!

• Ezequiel Arteaga BS-Construction Management
• Joe Barnes BS-Construction Management
• Riley Beakes BS-Criminal Justice
• Zoi Blackwell BS- Recreational Therapy
• Melissa Chen BS- Industrial Technology- Architectural Design
• Deshawn Cherry BA- Psychology
• Samuel Dickerson BS- Political Science (Minor History)
• Michael Everett BA- Political Science (Minor Economics)
• Edward Grant BS- Criminal Justice
• Jennifer Heath BSW- Social Work (Minor Gerontology)
• Gaelle Jean Gilles BSBA- Accounting
• Jasmine Johnson BA- Psychology (Alcohol and Drug Studies)
• Callie Kirby BS- Communication (Concentration-Interpersonal/Organizational)
• Valerie Lurvey BS- Biology (Concentration Ecology/Evolution)
• Isamar Ponce Ponce BA- Psychology (Minor Hispanic Studies)
• Cameron Ward BS- Sport Studies (Minor Business Administration)

OFFICE OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS

Office of Global Affairs and Honors College staff recently conducted site visits to two long-time bilateral exchange partner universities – Manchester Metropolitan University in England and University of Tours in France. The Honors College is interested in expanding participation in exchange programs through a cohort approach in which small groups of ECU students attend partner universities on semester exchange. Semester exchange programs offer students the most impactful, immersive, and cost-effective way of engaging in international mobility. If you are interested in learning more about this approach to internationalizing your college or department, please contact Jon Rezek.

In addition to site campus site visits, Honors College administrators visited ECU’s campus in Tuscany, Italy. The ECU Tuscany program offers students an opportunity to earn ECU general education credits from ECU instructors with fellow ECU students, while immersed in the Italian culture. Stay tuned, additional opportunities for ECU faculty and staff to contribute to the success of our flagship study abroad program are on the horizon!

In April, the Office of Global Affairs’ Erin Taylor won the North Carolina Association of International Educators’ Professional Newcomer Award. This award is presented to an individual in the first five years of their career who has demonstrated significant contributions to the field of international education. In addition to her regular duties and an Education Abroad Coordinator, Erin has contributed to ECU’s QEP, taught the freshman seminar course for ECU’s Global Fellows, spearheaded the office’s fundraising campaign, and led OGA’s marketing and promotion efforts.

The Office of Global Affairs is pleased to recognize international graduate student Victor Ihuka (second from left, above) for his efforts to promote ECU as a destination for international students and in supporting and giving voice to current international students during their ECU journey. Victor was recently recognized with the Truist Leadership Excellence in Student Leadership Award.

In April, ECU hosted University of The Gambia (UTG) Vice Chancellor Herbert Robinson (seated next to Chancellor Rogers, above) and his delegation to Greenville. UTG has been a long-standing member of Global Partners in Education virtual exchange network, which is housed at ECU. The delegation met with Chancellor Rogers, Provost Coger and several other administrators and faculty members to discuss how we may be able to build upon the success of our virtual exchange partnerships to expand collaboration between our two universities.

OFFICE FOR FACULTY EXCELLENCE

Six faculty members have been participating in the Spring 2024 Faculty Leadership Fellows Program, made possible by the Truist Center for Leadership Development. Coordinated by Marina Alexander (HHP), the Fellows spent the semester working with a small team to explore opportunities for integrating student leadership skill development into considerations about course content and design. Faculty participants included Amin Akhnoukh, Sheena Eagan, Rose Haddock, Paige Irons, Mary Jo Nimmo, and Kindal Shores, and courses addressed will reach students in four colleges at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

During the Spring 2024 semester, ten faculty members from five different colleges began an intensive course design process for high quality and engaging courses to be delivered online. Course FIT participants partner with an instructional designer to plan foundational elements of the course, collaborate with one another throughout the course building process, participate in a week-long summer institute, and submit their course for Quality Matters certification. The 2024 CourseFIT cohort includes: Kiya Bolds (THCAS), Dominiquie Clemmons-James (CAHS), Yilei Huang (CET), Sitawa Kimuna (THCAS), Adrienne Muldrow (CFAC), Kindal Shores (HHP), Brian Sylcott (CET), Brittany Thompson (CFAC), Robin Tutor Marcom (BSOM), and Scott Walfield (THCAS).

Ten faculty will be participating in the 2024 Summer Institute for Research and Creative Activity, led by Bonnie Glass from the College of Education. During May and June, Sambuddha Banerjee (THCAS), Erin Kessel (COE), Larry Hodgkins (COE), Jason Perry (COE), Rose Haddock (HHP), Xian Wu (BSOM), Tracy Ginn (COB), Bill Eblin (CAHS), Alana Freeman (HHP), and Scott Wade (THCAS) will focus on specific projects related to their research or creative activity goals. The program begins with a week-long retreat in May and culminates with submission of finished products based on their individual goals by the end of June.

The Office for Faculty Excellence will be offering the Summer 2024 Statistics and Research series online Webex from May 14 to May 30. All 18 sessions are open to ECU faculty, staff, fellows, postdocs, and graduate students. Topics will include sessions about popular statistical packages (e.g. SPSS, SAS, R, PowerBI, Python, LaTex), basic and advanced statistics, and special topics (e.g. Instrument design, Multi-categorical and count data, Meta-analysis, etc.). Please visit our website to see a full list of workshops and register for individual sessions. A heartfelt thank you to the nine ECU faculty and staff who will be teaching our summer statistics and research series: Courtney Baker (THCAS), Xiangming Fang (BSOM), Greg Harris (IPAR), Qiang Wu (BSOM), Kevin O’Brien (BSOM), Alex Schoemann (THCAS), Peng Xiao (THCAS), Whitney Moore (HHP), and Franklin Zhou (IPAR).

Andrew Horne has been elected to serve as Co-Chair of the UNC Faculty and Academic Development Consortium (FADC) for the upcoming academic year. The FADC consists of volunteer representatives from each of the UNC System institutions and provides an opportunity for collaboration and resource-sharing around faculty educational development goals.

OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL AID

The OSFA is pleased to report that by April 10, 2024 we had received approximately 25,000 FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms. We were able to load approximately 18,000 of those records and continue to receive and review the remaining records in an effort to load them.

On April 19, we awarded and mailed the first 3,500 award notices to the entering student population. We followed up with an additional 4,900 award notices on Thursday, April 25 and 225 on Thursday, May 2.

First award notices to entering students go out as a paper award letter with attached materials about “What you need to know” and the “Financial Aid Worksheet” for calculating the individual student budget – costs v. aid. Follow up award notices (should the FAFSA data change or the scholarship information change) are sent to students via email and are available to view on the student Pirate Port, Financial Aid Self Service card.

We will continue to award the 2024 - 2025 entering student population every Thursday, as revised or corrected FAFSA records come in. We will begin to award the continuing student population on Thursday, May 16, after spring grades post and summer school is underway.

As a reminder, we expect that the CPOS exceptions will be as ‘flexible’ as possible for the summer term and look forward to beginning to work those exception requests from faculty and academic advisors on behalf of their students starting May 2 . This is in effort to make sure all aid is available to prevent the Cashiers’ required Schedule Cancellation for Non-payment event on May 8, 2024.

OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS

On Sunday, March 17, the freshman Access scholars completed their annual service project benefiting the ECU Community School. They worked together to package treat bags as the students prepare to take their end of grade tests and the teachers. Each bag included a motivational note encouraging the students to do their best and thanking the teacher for their hard work. During this event, the scholars wrote over 100 thank you notes to those that donated during Pirate Nation Gives on March 20.

On Saturday, March 23, a group of Access Scholars traveled to New Bern, NC for our third annual Bate Service Day. The scholars volunteered with the Craven County Habitat for Humanity to assist in preparing a home to have the walls and ceilings closed. The home should be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2024.

OFFICE OF RESEARCH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & ENGAGEMENT

REDE leadership and staff members consistently go above and beyond to facilitate and support ECU’s research, economic development and community engagement efforts. While holding their roles in REDE, staff members also often support other missions and goals of ECU. Over the past month, several REDE employees have been recognized for the exemplary work they do, and we would like to applaud these accomplishments:

• Rob Bower, Director of the Small Business and Technology Development Center at ECU, received the Future Focused + Thought Leadership award from NC SBTDC. The award is given to an SBTDC member who has demonstrated an innovative approach to an issue or has implemented a new best practice to the team.
• Rachel Bridgers, Senior Business Counselor for the Small Business and Technology Development Center at ECU, was recently honored with the agency’s Core Value award, recognizing her commitment to teamwork and her collaboration with the other 15 centers across the state.
• Dr. Angela Lamson, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Economic and Community Engagement, received the Distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentor award in the Doctoral category during this year’s Research and Creative Achievement Week (RCAW). She was recognized for her long-term commitment to supporting, empowering, and collaborating with doctoral students in the Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) Program.
• Dr. Sharon Paynter, Acting Chief Research and Engagement Officer, earned the James R. Talton Jr. Leadership Award. This award is presented to a faculty member, staff member or administrator in recognition of their demonstration of outstanding servant leadership.
• Dr. Carlyle Rogers, Director of Licensing and Commercialization, received the inaugural Research Administration Award during the annual Research and Scholarship Awards ceremony. This award was created to recognize staff who play an integral and exemplary role in advancing ECU's research productivity goals through service and support.
• During the College of Health and Human Performance’s Celebration of Philanthropy and Service, Suzanne Sparrow, Director of the Institutional Review Board, received an award for her distinguished service to HHP.

ECU faculty are invited to attend an Interdisciplinary Proposal Writing Workshop, June 11-13 at the Eastern Area Health Education Center (Eastern AHEC). Registration is limited to the first 30 applicants. Lunch and snacks will be provided during the 3-day event.

The overall goal for this workshop is to spur new proposal and project ideas with an interdisciplinary focus. There will be plenary talks by experts and time for writing. Register to participate by May 10 via Smartsheet. Questions? Contact Dr. Mary Farwell, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Development.

A celebratory luncheon was held at the East Carolina Heart Institute on April 24 to thank those involved in helping ECU secure two national designations: the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Innovation & Economic Prosperity 5-Year Extension and the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. During the luncheon, those who helped prepare the applications for the designations and community partners whose collaborations were used as examples in the applications were recognized.

Chancellor Philip Rogers and Provost Robin Coger opened with remarks on the designations and their significance to the university’s mission of engaged scholarship, education, and public service as well as regional transformation. Dr. Sharon Paynter, Chief Research and Engagement Officer, highlighted engagement and innovation efforts that have received state and national recognition over the past year. Dr. Angela Lamson, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Economic and Community Engagement, led both application processes for the university. She introduced a new “Anchored in Pirate Partnerships” icon that will help better identify community engaged projects. To illustrate innovation at ECU, the Office of Licensing and Commercialization has highlighted one innovator a month in First Monday, and Dr. Carlyle Rogers, Director of Licensing and Commercialization, presented those innovators with awards during the luncheon. Dr. Kristen Cuthrell, Director of the Rural Education Institute and this year’s Scholarship of Engagement award recipient, presented with her community partners from Greene County Schools to illustrate how successful community engaged work has far-reaching benefits.

We once again extend a big THANK YOU to all who helped ECU achieve these accomplishments!

ECU’s Office of National Security and Industry Initiatives partnered with the Defense Alliance of North Carolina and Michael Best Law and Consulting to host a science and technology forum focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning in industry and defense. On April 23, AI experts from East Carolina University, Attollo Defense, Fleet Readiness Center East, and MrBeast discussed the latest technologies, challenges, and what's on the horizon. Presentation topics included:

• Is AI a Friend or a Foe?, presented by Drs. Nic Herndon & David Hart, College of Engineering & Technology
• CRAG - AI Assistant Enabling IoT Solutions, presented by Dr. Ciprian “Chip” Popoviciu, College of Engineering & Technology
• WatchDOG: Revolutionizing Defense Cyber Operations with AI-Enhanced Teaming and Automated Response, presented by Colby Sawyer, Attollo Defense
• Machine Health Monitoring in a Digital Industrial Workspace, presented by Tad Sylivant, Jarred Burr, and Chase Templeton, Fleet Readiness Center East
• How AI Will Disrupt Content, presented by Evan DeFilippis, MrBeast

Presentation slides are available to view on our website.

According to the United Nations the Blue Economy is worth more than $1.5 trillion and provides over 30 million jobs. Eastern North Carolina plays a central role in the Blue Economy through economic activities associated with the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse River Basins, as well as the Roanoke River, Albemarle Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean. To help raise awareness of the Blue Economy, ECU’s Office of Licensing and Commercialization sponsored a Blue Economy pitch competition on April 9.

Winning teams included:

• 1st Place, $5,000 - Limulus Biomedical (Tyler Hodge and Payton Cottrell) - Horseshoe crab aquaculture and LAL extraction from horseshoe crab blood
• 2nd Place, $1,000 - Trek 360 (Dr. Elizabeth Hodge) - Kayak ecotourism
• 3rd Place, $500 - Surf Stick (Will Jones and Geoffrey Miller) - Surf wax applicator
• 3rd Place, $500 - Wind Tunnel (Dr. Stephanie Richards and Dr. Sinan Sousan) - Small and portable wind tunnel for pesticide testing in wetlands and coastal communities

Funded by the National Science Foundation, I-Corps@ECU started in 2017 with the mission of helping inventors, innovators, and businesses align their solutions with the problems their customers are trying to solve. Since that time, I-Corps has trained over 350 participants and more than 175 teams. This has generated more than 50 startup companies and resulted in more than $2 million in follow-on funding (grants and investments).

As the current I-Corps grant is set to expire in August, the Office of Licensing & Commercialization is holding an I-Corps conference on Wednesday, May 8 to provide attendees with a network of contacts, resources, and information that can help to further advance their innovations towards commercialization.

Learn more and register to attend HERE.

Innovator of the Month:

The Innovator of the Month was established by the Office of Licensing and Commercialization to recognize faculty that have developed novel innovations that can have a major impact on eastern NC and beyond. Nominees are selected by members of the ECU Patent Committee, which chose Dr. Rukiyah Van Dross-Anderson for this month’s spotlight.

Skin cancer does not play favorites. It affects young, old, rich and poor, developing in one out of five Americans over the course of their lifetimes. Though current treatments are effective, side effects such as blistering and scarring can occur. A research team led by Dr. Rukiyah Van Dross-Anderson, of the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at ECU's Brody School of Medicine is actively exploring a novel, patented compound that attacks cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. This novel compound, derived from the cannabinoid arachidonoyl ethanolamide or AEA, has been found to be effective against different forms of skin cancer and colon cancer by inducing endoplasmic reticulum stress. This work has been funded by a NC Biotechnology Center FLASH and Translational Research Grant.

Do you have an idea or innovation that can have impact? Contact us.

Continuing & Professional Education (CPE)

The Office of Continuing and Professional Education provides continuing education programming through innovative training, certification, and professional development opportunities for adult learners.

Upcoming opportunities:

• 2024 ECU Spring Pharma Conference – May 21 & 22
• Nursing Education Educator Development – May 14 - August 9
• NCCED Program: Attraction for Economic Developers in North Carolina – May 15 & 16
• GlasStation Workshop: Glass Garden Ball – May 11
• GlasStation Workshop: Glass Witch Ball – May 4 - 18
• 21st Century Leadership Program: Leadership Communication and Vision-casting – May 17
• Christmas in Montréal and Québec City – December 4 - 6

The Lifelong Learning Program is accepting proposals for the Fall semester! If you would like to offer your expertise as an instructor or propose an experiential trip or event, click HERE to submit a proposal.

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COLLEGE UPDATES

ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES

Student Success

The College of Allied Health Sciences recently celebrated its 82 student scholarship recipients with a recognition ceremony. Twelve donors joined faculty, staff, and students for the annual event hosted in partnership with the ECU Health Foundation.

The departments of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy brought students together for their annual pediatric case study interprofessional event. In small groups with representation from each, students learned about the other disciplines, limitations of their own discipline in a specific case, and how their specialty can complement another in effective patient care. Tricia Carter, Clinical Assistant Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Dr. Christine Lysaght, Clinical Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy, and Dr. Lauren Turbeville, Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy, organized the event. Continue reading HERE.

Amber Faircloth, Rehabilitation Sciences student with a concentration in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Dr. Patrick Briley, Assistant Professor finished third in the Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge with their virtual reality application, Talkative. An additional product co-created by Dr. Briley finished in sixth place.

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) selected Ellen Cahoon, graduate student, to participate in the 2024 Institute for Future Scientists in Occupational Therapy. Ellen networked with OT scientists, engaged in special programming, and presented her research alongside the 30 other members of her cohort.

Public Service

Dr. Anne Dickerson, Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, received the Traffic Safety Partner of the Year Award at the NC Traffic Safety Conference and Expo for her research into older adult drivers and the bootcamp she hosts for young drivers with autism. Dr. Dickerson is the Director of ROADI (Research for Older Adult Driver Initiative).

Dr. Leigh Cellucci, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, received the Gary L. Filerman Prize for Educational Leadership from the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA). Dr. Cellucci was nominated for the award by two of her peers in recognition of her leadership and contributions to the field of healthcare management education. Continue reading HERE.

Jessica Miller, HUB Director and Pre-Award Administrator, received the university’s inaugural Excellence in Research Administration Award for her work supporting research in the colleges of Allied Health Sciences and Nursing. Jessica’s nomination was a group effort with 14 individuals contributing to the letter.

Regional Transformation

Local news station WITN celebrated National Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month with a feature on the exercise class designed and led by Drs. Lauren Turbeville, Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy, and Amy Wedge, Clinical Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy. Pirates™ "POWER" Over Parkinson's Disease: A PWR!Moves® Exercise Class is supported by the Parkinson’s Foundation and will run again for eight weeks in the fall. Continue reading HERE.

Governor Roy Cooper recognized the importance of diagnostic test results in healthcare as well as the specialists who do that work with a proclamation celebrating Medical Laboratory Professionals Week.

ARTS & SCIENCES

This spring, ECU’s Introduction to College Teaching mini course, offered through the Office of Faculty Excellence (OFE), was updated and led by Dr. Anne M. Spuches, faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and the current Harriot College Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Through a series of in-person meetings and asynchronous activities, eight participants (from Harriot College, the College of Health and Human Performance, the College of Allied Health Sciences, the College of Education, and the College of Business) were provided an opportunity to network and think about designing and delivering effective courses in today’s college environment. Topics included personal teaching styles and philosophies, the nature of today’s students and ideas for facilitating effective learning outcomes. “This is one of the most exceptional professional development experiences I have participated in, aligning significantly with my educational philosophy that prioritizes students first,” said Carla Pastor, senior teaching instructor in the Department of English.

ECU is serving as the lead institution of a $7.5 million, multidisciplinary and multi-institutional National Science Foundation Cultural Transformation in the Geoscience Community grant that will help educate students in the geosciences, while helping community partners tackle problems that affect agriculture, drinking water, air quality and more. It is one of only four projects selected for funding nationwide, and ECU will receive $4 million of the $7.5 million over the next five years. Dr. Adriana Heimann-Rios, associate professor of geological sciences, will lead the team. Learn more about the project in an ECU article available on the main ECU website later this week.

Dean Allison Danell has named three faculty members as recipients of the prestigious 2024 Harriot College Dean’s Early Career Award. Established in 2015 through the generosity of Harriot College’s Dean’s Advancement Council, the award recognizes and rewards exceptional performance by tenure-track assistant professors. This year’s recipients are Dr. Rachel Gittman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology; Dr. Sara Bryson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology; and Dr. Hanna Kassab, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science. Gittman began working at ECU in 2018 as a joint hire with the Coastal Studies Institute, which has allowed her to conduct interdisciplinary research and teaching as a marine conservation ecologist. Bryson, who came to ECU in 2020, researches juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice and decision-making, bullying behavior, school victimization, and race and ethnicity. Kassab began working at ECU in 2018 and is the faculty advisor for the security studies club. His research interests include international security, terrorism, weak states and systemic war.

Dr. David Smith, Interim Chair and Professor of German in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, was recognized at Carnegie Hall on April 18 with the “Mid-Career Professional Award for Accomplishments in International Education between the USA and Germany.” The award was presented by the Alumni Association of the German Academic Exchange Service, or Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), which supports fellowships and programs for students and scholars. “I am humbled and honored to have received this award, though I consider it a group recognition for how successful we have been in our department in mentoring students to apply for and receive funding to study or conduct internships abroad,” said Smith. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue that work.”

Katelyn Rollins, a graduate student in the Maritime Studies degree program in the Department of History, recently attended a unique field school in Egypt, with partial funding provided by Harriot College and the Biblical Archaeology Society’s dig scholarship program. Rollins, who defended her thesis on ancient Egyptian watercraft earlier this semester, attended the prestigious underwater cultural heritage training in Alexandria, Egypt, April 15 - 30. She was one of only 12 participants worldwide selected to participate in the program, which is sponsored by the Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage.

Nineteen second-graders and four teachers from Hope Preparatory School in Kinston, NC visited ECU in March to collaborate on influence poems with students in Dr. Laureen Tedesco’s Literature for Children class. Tedesco, Associate Professor in the Department of English, and Hope teachers, Laura Odeke and Georgia Jenkins, prepared the children for their visit by reading aloud Sharon Creech’s book, “Love That Dog,” which ECU students had also been reading. The collaboration of Hope students and ECU students on influence poems (poems that echo the language, structure, or poetry idea of published poems) occurred during the visit by working in small discussion groups. Students shared their poems, traded ideas about Jack’s character growth, and worked together to write an influence poem about the elementary students’ experiences at ECU. By reading the same book, ECU students were able to exchange ideas with Hope elementary students about the book and its characters and were able to discover and nurture the children’s strengths as readers and writers. Read the full article about their visit HERE.

Tabitha Miller, an ECU alumna who received her Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication from the Department of English in 2014, has been named President of Martin Community College. Her dissertation, "The Students' Voices in Developmental Education," was directed by Dr. Will Banks and Department of English committee members Dr. Wendy Sharer and Sherri Southard. Miller told Dr. Lida Cope, chair of English, that the doctoral program helped prepare her for her new leadership role by delving into situational communication in a way that assisted her in understanding how people in a community respond differently to positive and negative interactions. It also taught her the leadership quality of listening, which has become one of her best attributes, a skill she honed through her PhD studies at ECU. “I am honored to be chosen as MCC’s president and look forward to continuing my service to the students, faculty and staff of MCC, and the communities of Bertie and Martin Counties. Lifelong learning is the key to strengthening our communities,” said Miller. Miller started her new role as MCC’s 10th president on May 1. Learn more in this WITN news story.

BRODY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Brody celebrated its graduating students who completed distinction track requirements during the April 11 Distinction Day program. The event included showcases of student distinction track projects, an alumni panel and a student recognition program. The four distinction tracks include health system transformation and leadership, medical education and teaching, research and service learning and allow motivated students to pursue core interests in a rigorous, longitudinal approach, culminating with a capstone portfolio.

On April 25, Brody’s Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development sponsored the 10th annual Medical Education Day.

The event included podium and poster presentations and the popular “Shark Tank” program, during which student presenters have five minutes to pitch their in-progress research to an expert panel and receive feedback on how best to move their projects forward. Awards were also given to the top student presentations.

Medical Education Day is traditionally a gathering of leaders, educators, students and other scholars that aims to provide a forum for sharing educational innovations in curriculum and teaching, enhances understanding of new approaches in medical education and strengthening the network of Brody community members interested in promoting educational excellence.

Keynote speaker was Dr. Andrew Southerland, the Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor of Neurology and executive vice chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Virginia Health/UVA Stroke Center. Southerland is a 2006 Brody graduate and was a Brody Scholar. He is the past recipient of an early career award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) National Clinical Research Program and has served as principal investigator for numerous clinical studies in the field of stroke and cerebrovascular disease.

The eighth annual Pirates vs. Cancer event on April 12 raised close to $15,000 for pediatric cancer patients at ECU Health’s James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital.

Led by Brody students, the fundraiser has gained popularity and momentum over the years, with volunteers having their hair cut and donated, getting their heads shaved and even — for special faculty volunteers — receiving a pie to the face in support of the cause.

“One thing that I love about Pirates vs. Cancer is that you are able to see with your own eyes the direct impact of this work on the children at Maynard Children’s Hospital,” said Carly Uhlir, Brody student and event coordinator for Pirates vs. Cancer. “We know that every dollar we raise will add up to make a difference. Kids with pediatric cancer are more than just patients — they are among the strongest and bravest in our community. I want to continue the Pirates vs. Cancer mission that the founders so strongly believed in years ago and that has transcended all these years.”

Dr. Jason Hack, professor and division chief of medical toxicology in the Brody/ECU Health Department of Emergency Medicine is leading a multiphase program that introduces and discusses the concept and tools of Harms Reduction to improve the care and experience of patients who have substance use disorders (SUD). The longitudinal program, which was created and implemented in collaboration with Dr. Ruthie Gordon, Dr. Jane Dewire, Dr. Jen Bennett, Dr. Skip Robey, Dr. Don Norris and with community leaders working in this space. The course has been presented to emergency medicine residents and faculty and aims to eventually engage with nursing and other departments outside the emergency department. The goal is to introduce (or remind) and support the use of harms reduction techniques to physicians to improve care for patients with substance use disorders by creating a supportive environment and realistic steps forward that are unique to each patient.

“This is an increasing and challenging problem for emergency department physicians, and really anyone caring for these patients,” Hack said, “so there’s enormous interest in using techniques and better ways to care for people with substance use disorders. What has been shown in the literature is that the concept and techniques of harms reduction works to improve care and satisfaction of the encounter from both the patient side and the physician side.”

The harms reduction training program includes a survey that assesses how comfortable providers are with caring for patients with substance use, followed by an asynchronous online module that includes video instruction on the basis of addiction and the harms reduction model. Participants also experience a simulation session during which they respond to different scenarios involving patients with substance use disorders. After the training, participants take another survey; so far, the research aspect of the project have shown that trainees’ approaches to these patients takes on new facets post-training—they felt more confident in their ability to screen patients for SUD, assess patients’ readiness to change risky substance use, and assess patients’ interest in readiness for treatment; as well as increasing their understanding of the neurobiological basis of addiction.

Patients who present to the hospital with substance use disorders and related complications often feel an element of shame and some have the expectation that they will not receive help they need. The harms reduction concept aims to equip health care professionals to meet patients where they are at in the substance use cycle “to appropriately approach them and support and encourage any positive change to help get them to the next step” in addressing their disorder, he said. Depending on where the patient is in his or her history, providers can suggest solutions that are realistic for each person’s next step in the process.

“This modern approach seems to work much better than the historic approach, which was expecting people to stop using substances because you told them to,” Hack said. “Incremental positive movements or changes appears to be more helpful and impactful.”

The artwork of Dr. Jason Hack, professor and division chief of medical toxicology in Brody/ECU Health’s Department of Emergency Medicine, is currently on display on the first floor hallway of the Brody medical school building. His collection of abstract creations entitled, “A Stretch of Time,” highlights the critical role that material art can play in the development and maintenance of the medical art skillset.

The works represent juxtaposing ways of looking at the world and the ways artistic expression can infiltrate other disciplines. Hack said he would like to help create a space where members of the health care profession can display their art, to celebrate the role creativity plays in every facet of providers and people. Art also can be a central theme in training, he added.

“Reflection, compassion, and insight are critical synergistic components that play counterpoint to the foundational rigidity and factual basis of medical education. These sentient behaviors are catalyzed through art and arts, encouraging development of mindful practice and person,” Hack said in his artist statement alongside the installation. “The link between visual arts and medicine is well documented. Art holds the viewer tangibly, stretches their imagination, and buoys their emotional self-awareness.”

In addition to original artwork, Hack has also practiced photography for much of his career, including a stint in Rhode Island, where his work has appeared on display in the state house, the Providence airport, various art galleries, and other sites. Another of his collections includes photographs of various toxic and medicinal flowers and plants found in neighborhood gardens—are currently on display in the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Greenville and Contentnea Creek.

“When I started taking pictures, what naturally attracted me was objects of medical or toxicological interest, they look like the flower next to them, but they have powers,” Hack said.

His exploration of abstract art has allowed him to discover parallels, including those found in “A Stretch of Time,” that could lend to better critical analysis as a physician.

“Art also builds reflective capacity — the ability to apply critical analysis of knowledge and experience to achieve deeper meaning and understanding within patient encounters — a core health care practice competency,” Hack said. “It is my hope this work provides a moment of contemplation for issues that envelop us all as medical professionals and a pause to recognize the profound importance that your attentiveness and imagination has on the patients who trust us.”

BUSINESS

Limulus Biomedical won the seventh Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge, held April 10 in the ECU Main Student Center. ECU entrepreneurship student Tyler Hodge of Morehead City and Payton Cottrell of Carteret Community College now have $15,000 in cash prizes to grow their venture, which started as two friends who wanted to make the results of an aquaculture research project a reality.

Entrepreneurship student Gage Palmer won second place and $10,000 for PALMQUATICS, a business that works with boat dealerships and private owners to provide mobile repair services specializing in fiberglass and gel coat repair. Amber Faircloth, a doctoral candidate in rehabilitation sciences, won third place and $5,000 for her idea, Talkative, a virtual reality speaking environment that assists stuttering patients with real-world situations. Crossfit Greenville Kids and Surf Stick took fourth and fifth, and thanks to Robert Gluckman of Treasure Coast Urgent Care and Treasure Coast Primary Care, won $2,500 and $1,500, respectively. The Crisp Small Business Resource Center awarded $500 each to Iuvo and Horizon Shield, who tied for sixth place.

For the first time in the challenge’s history, all participants walked away with cash prizes, in-kind services, or both, totaling almost $200,000.

Eleven students in the East Carolina University Immersive Master of Business Administration (IMBA) pathway have been paired with North Carolina companies, putting them one step closer to completing their one-year graduate journey.

Those pairings were announced during the Arthur School’s first Set Sail ceremony on April 1, where Carter Cunningham (Hyster-Yale Group), Ashley Dickerson (Hyster-Yale Group), Josh Furlough (Catalent), Jewel Herlong (CAPTRUST), Andrew Kerry (TowneBank), Jenna Mallberg (Internet2), Isaiah Rutledge (Fastenal), Jenna Scott (Nordstrom), Ted Sielatycki (Fastenal), Carmen Smith (Hyster-Yale Group) and Grant Smith (ThermoFisher) learned where they are to intern during summer 2024. One IMBA student, Matt Blount, has elected to pursue a physician’s assistant degree.

Dr. Stanley Eakins has been named by Gov. Roy Cooper to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for his 30-plus-year commitment to providing exceptional contributions to East Carolina University and eastern North Carolina. Rep. Gloristine Brown of North Carolina’s 8th District presented Eakins the award during the College of Business’ End-of-Year Social and Retirement Recognition Ceremony April 23. Considered among the highest honors the governor can confer, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award recognizes citizens for their exemplary service to the state.

Eakins served as the dean of the College of Business for more than eight years between 2010 and 2018, including his time as acting dean. Eakins came to East Carolina University in 1990 after receiving his doctorate from Arizona State University. Before entering academics, he was a bank vice president and a chief financial officer for a multi-million-dollar construction and development company.

The inaugural ECU TechSummit was held on March 20 and featured one keynote and 10 breakout sessions designed to expose students to the technology industry and give them a platform to network and talk with professionals in the industry. The keynote was delivered by two-time COB graduate Robert Daigle of Lenovo, who spoke about artificial intelligence. Representatives from Fidelity Investments, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Cisco, Forvis and SAS spoke to the students in the breakout sessions. The 100% student-led event was organized by COB’s Student Leadership Board and CET’s Association of Computing Machinery. Both the COB & CET financially sponsored the event. To learn more about the event itself, check out Technology, business collide during Technology Summit.

The student-led ECU CEO Club welcomed Jim Segrave, CEO of flyExclusive and ECU Trustee; Chris Knott, chief merchandising officer for Johnnie O’s; and Michael Overton, founder and president of The Overton Group, LLC, as they participated in the inaugural ECU Entrepreneurial Showcase, held on March 20 in the Isley Innovation Hub. According to student organizers, the showcase aimed to empower ECU students by demonstrating the possibilities an ECU degree unlocks. By hearing the inspiring journeys of successful business leaders, students gained valuable insights and a renewed sense of what they could achieve. More than 80 students, plus faculty and guests, attended. Organizers hope the Showcase will be an annual spring event.

On March 27, the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at East Caroling University collaborated to host an illuminating event titled "Navigating Marketing and Communications." This event, which acted as a connection between the College of Business and the School of Communications, aimed to break down barriers and promote cooperation across various academic areas. From 5:30-7 pm in the Isley Innovation Hub, students had the opportunity to engage with five distinguished guest speakers from diverse majors in communications and marketing. The speakers included Sherry Jones (Hyster-Yale), manager, communications, strategy & planning; Maria Satira (ENC Alliance), communications & media relations professional; Emily Garner (Greenville Utilities), public information specialist; Chris Murtha (Hyster-Yale), director, brand marketing & communications; and Alaina Corsini (Red Shark Digital), marketing director. The speakers shared invaluable insights from their professional experiences, offering attendees a glimpse into the dynamic and interconnected worlds of marketing and communications.

The ECU Association for Information Systems student chapter recently attended the AIS Student Chapter Leadership Conference in Logan, Utah. Representing ECU and the COB were Fiona Freyholtz, Craig Geter, Madison Hruska, Reid Jarrel, Sarah Kleckley, and Aryana Stewart. All were selected due to being active members or officers of the student chapter. While at the show, they attended multiple workshops, sat in on keynote presentations and even hosted their own workshops about e-portfolios. And, importantly, the ECU AIS student chapter won the best new AIS student chapter award.

Entrepreneurship students went to Wilmington recently to visit businesses, meet with alumni and learn more about UNCW's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Sloan School of Business. Not only did the students get opportunities to meet alumni where they live and work, they also got up close and personal looks at various career options. Thank you to Susan and Johnnie Cheng, BAC Chair Angela Furniss, Geoff Hodges, Scott Digs, Sean Frelke and Olivia Cottrell for taking time to meet these future entrepreneurs.

The spring 2024 James H. Bearden Induction Ceremony of the ECU Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) – Gamma BGS – was on March 26, 2024 in Harvey Hall on the campus of East Carolina University. The College of Business inducted more than 40 new members into BGS, the honor society serving business programs accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The BGS tapping ceremonies – the presentation of BGS invitations during class time – took place earlier during the spring semester. Beta Gamma Sigma membership is the highest recognition a business student can achieve.

Eleven entrepreneurship students were inducted into the Sigma Nu Tau Entrepreneurship Honor Society. Sigma Nu Tau is the foremost academic honor society solely dedicated to entrepreneurship. As the exclusive honor society focused entirely on recognizing and promoting excellence in entrepreneurship education, Sigma Nu Tau stands at the forefront of empowering students and faculty committed to advancing the field of entrepreneurship. Inducted into Sigma Nu Tau were Rileigh Cardin, Mackenzie Dickinson, Maxwell Ferrie, Emily Hymel, Cole Languell, Katie Rowland, Aurora Shafer, Aisleth Torres Tabora, Savannah Trainer, and Cynthia Wood. The Miller School's Vickie Glover was inducted as an honorary member.

Guys with a Purpose, a student group coming out of Holly Winkler's BUSI 2200 class, was featured on WITN recently to talk about their recent project - collecting dog and cat food for Pet Food Pantry of ENC. Students Nick Anderson, Alex Hill, Carson Biethman, Shane Newman, Christian Qually, and Rafael Lim collected the food on April 24 at Brown and Wood, 329 SW Greenville Blvd. Thanks to Pirate Nation, they raised almost 1,000 pounds.

A group of East Carolina University hospitality management students gained real-world experience as part of a project, but the personal experience they gained may far surpass any grade that they earned. The School of Hospitality Leadership partnered with Greenville-based Awaken Coffee to help plan the A Night at Awaken gala and fundraiser on April 16 at Harvey Hall. The event celebrated Awaken’s first year of business and was attended by employees, board members and local community members. Awaken Coffee is a nonprofit dedicated to employing adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, promoting their skills, confidence and dignity.

More than 100 people attended SHL’s second annual Food and Wine Festival. Held in Rivers, 20 separate wines were poured and 14 dishes were served. SHL students planned, prepared, marketed and managed the event. De la Boue, Big Table Farm, Duplin, Biltmore, and Empire Distributors provided the wine. Performance Foods Group provided $1100 worth of food. Golden Corral, U.S. Foods and TRM (a technology company in Raleigh) provided cash sponsorships. Nino's Cucina Italiana and Mickeys Pastry Shop provided additional food to taste at the event. The proceeds will go to help increase SHL scholarship dollar amounts.

DENTAL MEDICINE

In late April, 100% of the Class of 2024 signed up for membership in the North Carolina Dental Society. The class got a visit from NCDS leader Jim Goodman as well as faculty and alumni who shared their experiences with the North Carolina Dental Society and detailed membership benefits. This is the seventh year in a row that 100% of the class signed up for membership.

On April 5, members of the ECU School of Dental Medicine family joined supporters and community members to celebrate the second anniversary of the school's dental office in Swan Quarter, Hyde County. The office, which operates in the back of the building that houses the town's post office, is part of the school's mission to reach patients in rural and underserved areas that have few or no dentists nearby. The satellite clinic has provided a solution for patients in eastern North Carolina who now have more accessible oral health care. The anniversary celebration marked an important and special partnership between the school and a community that stands ready to care for its residents.

The School of Dental Medicine’s Office of Student Affairs hosted a group of students from Hope Middle School April 15, in partnership with the Grow Local initiative through the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce. The students learned all about careers in dentistry as they toured the school, did hands-on activities in the bench lab and heard from Student Affairs faculty and staff. The Grow Local program is designed to introduce, inspire and invest in the future of the community and workforce by giving young students exposure to potential career interests like dentistry.

April 19 marked the last regularly scheduled day of clinical experiences for our fourth-year dental students. The countdown to graduation begins for many of them as they return from their clinical rotations across the state—from Spruce Pine to Ahoskie to the Ross Hall Service Learning Center.

EDUCATION

Dr. Kawanna Bright (center, above), assistant professor in library science, was awarded the Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award and Dr. Mark Newton, assistant professor in science education, was awarded a Scholar-Teacher Award during the 2023-24 University Teaching Awards ceremony. Bright also received a 2024 REDE Trendsetter Award this year during the Research and Scholarship Awards Recognition Ceremony.

The COE dean’s office hosted a luncheon for ECU Community School students who participated in this year’s Science Olympiad. Students were able to speak to Provost Robin Coger and ask her questions about her STEM experience and higher education.

Dr. Christy Howard was recognized during Research and Creative Achievement Week as the 2024 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentor Award winner.

The College of Education has established a faculty-authored library in Ragsdale 104-C and held a ribbon cutting in April. The COE Faculty-Authored Library houses a collection of books authored or edited by COE faculty members. These books are now available for checkout and you can explore the collection via the online catalog.

Special education graduate and Partnership Teach participant Tyanha Cannon was spotlighted as an ECU graduate profile. Cannon’s passion for working with children led her to pursue her bachelor’s degree in special education and fulfill her childhood dream of being a teacher.

Eleven individuals were honored for their commitment to education and inducted into the Educators Hall of Fame. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the EHOF. The Hall of Fame recognizes the service of individuals who have extensively contributed to the field of education and had a decisive impact on the lives of others. Honorees are nominated through a $2,500 gift that is placed into a Hall of Fame scholarship endowment for merit-based education scholarships. This year’s honorees are Patricia Jean Anderson, Perry “Pete” Barnes, Wilton Ray Futrell, Anne Catherine Richards Lewis, Allison Michael Poorman Mallison, Ashley Lynn Harris Matthews, Jacqueline Ann Nelson Ragland, Bryan H. Setser, Edward Junior Tyer, Martha Traynham Wohlnick and Guili Zhang.

Current education majors were able to hear from North Carolina Principal of the Year Donna Bledsoe as she shared her experience and educational journey.

The education living-learning community and education community of scholars completed three service projects this semester. The freshmen volunteered at the Science Olympiad, sophomores helped clean up the ECU Community School during the school’s spring break and juniors hosted a blood drive on campus.

Dr. Mary Huffman's class was able to talk to one of her close friends, a Holocaust survivor, about her experience surviving Dachau, one of the most well-known death camps. Dr. Huffman, an assistant professor in elementary education & middle grades education, had items and photographs for the students to study during the phone call.

Several COE faculty members have been elected to serve on state and national leadership boards. Dr. Crystal Chambers will serve as the 2025 - 2027 Division J (postsecondary education) Secretary for the American Educational Research Association. Counselor Education’s Dr. Shanita Brown will be the 2024 - 2025 President Elect for the North Carolina Counseling Association and Dr. Allison Fears will serve as the Secretary.

During March’s National Reading Month, Dr. Laura Craven, teaching assistant professor in counselor education, shared the role books and stories play in therapy. Learn more about the benefits of bibliotherapy on the COE news blog.

ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

The moon and the stars may be a lot closer to Greenville than you might think thanks to a team of technology students who worked to improve an exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Greenville. Read more HERE.

A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from furnaces may just come from a mix of green hydrogen and natural gas. A mechanical engineering graduate student is looking for just the right combination as part of a research project. Read more HERE.

Department of Computer Science students teamed with those from the College of Business to create the Technology Summit, an effort that drew about 250 students to hear from 18 speakers from top companies throughout the region and nation. Read more HERE.

Emre Bal, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, is using the sun’s rays in his thesis research project. “I want to apply my knowledge to real-life problems and save more energy, save forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions somehow.” Read more HERE.

FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION

Rebecca Simon, Theatre and Design Faculty, will be part of Ibsen’s Ghost, a new NY off-Broadway production, as the Dialect Coach. Professor Simon’s Voice and dialect coaching credits include A Walk on the Moon, American Hero, Trying, and Little Girl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical (George Street Playhouse), The McCarter Theatre, Bristol Riverside Theatre, and Forestburgh Playhouse, among others.

Professor Simon and Professor Trent Blanton invited Ali Ewoldt, who is well-known as the first Asian-American actress to star as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, to ECU School of Theatre and Dance and hosted a guest artist program where she taught a master class for the Theatre and Dance students.

An animated sequence by Jason Mitcham (’02 BFA Painting) opened the CBS Special, The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden - The Greatest Arena Run of All Time. The animation was created by altering physical paintings hundreds of times in a stop-motion technique. Animation/paintings by Jason Mitcham, final editing by Janus Fouche. For the full video, click HERE.

Evan Martschenko (‘22 BM Music Theory) is now completing his MM Music theory degree at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Evan has won a prestigious award for the best overall graduate teaching assistant at the University. He applied to Indiana University, UCCCM, and Eastman School of Music for admission to their Ph.D. programs in music theory, and he was accepted to all three with incredible offers. He decided to take the offer to enter the doctoral program at Eastman with a teaching assistantship and the prestigious Sproull Fellowship which grants a stipend for two years of research with no teaching responsibilities. This will cover his expenses for the four years of his degree and allow him to gain teaching experience but also cover expenses while he is working on his dissertation.

Additionally, Evan has been actively presenting papers at major conferences, including the most recent presentation (4/6/24) at the Music Theory Society of New York State’s annual conference (held at Ithaca College) entitled “'Feel the Emptiness': Micro-Schemata Sproull fellowship in the Music of Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki.” This paper will also be published on Music Theory Online this November.

GRADUATE SCHOOL

Research and Creative Achievement Week 2024 was a resounding success. We had 304 poster presentations, 105 podium talks, 44 online poster presentations, and 16 posters from engaged community partners through a collaboration with the Water Resources Center. Altogether this accounted for another record year for student and postdoctoral scholarship at ECU! This event offers our emerging scholars an audience and RCAW as a platform to enhance their professional development. Thanks, and gratitude to those faculty, staff, and students who had mentoring, judging, and moderating responsibilities. A list of Award Recipients and the Create | Innovate Program have been posted to the RCAW website.

Congratulations to the 2024 Graduate Faculty Mentor Award Recipients!

These awards are given annually to recognize East Carolina University faculty members who exemplify outstanding commitments to academic, professional, and personal development of graduate students through mentoring and advising.

Doctoral Category

Dr. Angela Lamson, PhD, LMFT, Nancy W. Darden Distinguished Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science currently serves as the Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Economic and Community Engagement. Dr. Lamson has served as the program director for the Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) doctoral program and Marriage and Family Therapy master's program. She also directed the ECU Family Therapy Clinic and served as the associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Health and Human Performance. In addition, she is on the Executive Committee for the Alliance of Military and Veteran Family Behavioral Health Providers at the national level. Dr. Lamson's teaching, funding, and publications have been devoted to Medical Family Therapy and integrated care, particularly in the areas of trauma, chronic illness, loss, and compassion fatigue in the lives of individuals, couples, families, and providers. Her training and research initiatives have been housed in community health, primary care, specialty care, schools, and military bases. Dr. Lamson was honored with the 2020 Outstanding Contribution to Marriage and Family Therapy Award by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the ECU 2022 Research and Creative Activity Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Lamson is recognized for her long-term commitment to supporting, empowering, and collaborating with doctoral students in the Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) Program. One student wrote that Dr. Lamson’s “mentorship is defined by her deep investment in our growth and success. Her organized weekly writing groups, guidance in our career development, and steadfast support in our research and clinical endeavors demonstrate the significant and positive influence she has on our professional journey.” Faculty wrote that her advocacy for students includes “meaningful conversations” that “promote their own self-care” and “academic excellence in the classroom and the research lab.” Dr. Lamson ensures that students “build a research trajectory including publications, presentations, and grant proposals with community partners that promote mutually beneficial community engaged scholarship.” Dr. Lamon’s inclusionary mentoring practices clearly influence the success of the MedFT students and their work to transform the communities they serve.

Master's Category

Dr. Christy Howard, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education, and History Education (LEHE) in the College of Education serves as the Director of LEHE Graduate programs and MAEd Reading/Literacy program coordinator. She teaches undergraduate and graduate literacy courses. Her research interests focus on culturally responsive literacy instruction, content area literacy, and the experiences of students and faculty of color. Her research has been published in several journals including Language Arts, Journal of Literacy Research, and Literacy Research and Instruction. Her book, It’s not “one more thing”: Culturally responsive and affirming strategies in K-12 literacy classrooms, was published in 2021.

Dr. Howard is recognized for her dedication and commitment to mentoring students to become reading and literacy specialists and leaders. One student wrote that Dr. Howard’s “passion, dedication and knowledge radiate in all that she does” and “she has been a profound influence on my life and particularly in my career.” Her faculty colleagues noted “her innovative practices, and her commitment to social transformation through education.” They recognized that this award would honor and acknowledge “the transformative power of our colleague who has magnified her social justice work by sustaining the hearts and minds of those who will continue her legacy.” Dr. Howard fosters a “community of belonging and learning” that recognizes and affirms “the brilliance, cultural wealth and funds of knowledge students bring into our programs.” Dr. Howard’s commitment to educating and inspiring future leaders in reading and literacy education ensures her students’ success but also their own students and communities.

Congratulations to 2024 Thesis and Dissertation Award Recipients!

The thesis and dissertation awards recognize and honor outstanding research and scholarship at the graduate level. This year we had three student research award winners for their outstanding work.

Doctoral Dissertation in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, & Engineering

Semianalytical and Numerical Studies of Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions, Dr. Todd Mendenhall, Department of Physics, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. Dissertation Director, Dr. Zi-Wei Lin. https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/handle/10342/13148

Doctoral Dissertation in Social Sciences, Business, & Education

Recruitment, Retention, and Intersectionality: Recognizing the Voice of Historically Marginalized and Systemically Oppressed Medical Residents, Dr. Corin E. Davis, Department of Human Development and Family Science, College of Health and Human Performance. Dissertation Director, Dr. Angela Lamson. https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/handle/10342/10673

Master’s Thesis in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, & Engineering

Defining Protein Motions that Comprise the Reaction Barrier in Human Epithelial 15-Lipoxygenase-2, Amanda Ohler, Department of Chemistry, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. Thesis Director, Dr. Adam R. Offenbacher. https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/handle/10342/10682

Gear up for our 2024 Three Minute Thesis (3MT™) Competition!

Get ready for our annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT™) competition, where graduate students present their research in under 3 minutes using non-technical language and only one slide. We will have three heats of students and a championship round judged by various Pirate staff and faculty from across campus. After the championship round, we will award the Grand Champion (plus second and third place), the Department Cup, and a People’s Choice Award.

Please join us to meet our amazing graduate students and to hear the depth and breadth of the research they are conducting! The competition will take place on Monday, November 4, 2024, at 1 p.m. in the Main Campus Student Center Ballrooms.

For more information about this local competition within an international program, please see our 3MT website, HERE.

HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE

The College of Health and Human Performance partnered with University Printing & Graphics to produce a Spring 2024 newsletter for alumni and friends. This newsletter highlights research, engagement, news, awards, unit updates and much more on how HHP contributes to ECU’s mission and impact.

Dr. Alice Richman and Kelli Russell (faculty supervisor) representing the Department of Health Education and Promotion, Lauren Howard and ECU Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement staff supported and facilitated for student Iyaira Williams to open a Mini Pantry at Carol G. Belk. Williams is a Spring 2024 graduate and has been an HEP intern. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the opening of this student resource at the Belk Building.

Susannah Berry received the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award during the university’s annual advising awards ceremony. Berry is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and HHP’s assistant dean for undergraduate studies and assessment. Also, nominees included Brandi Harris for Outstanding Academic Advisor and Vanessa Bright for Outstanding New Advisor.

Interim dean Dr. Stacey Altman was nominated by colleagues and friends for the HHP Wall of Fame, which she was presented the honor as a surprise at the College of Health and Human Performance end-of-year, college-wide meeting. Altman has been at ECU since 2002, serving in roles such as chair of the Department of Kinesiology, associate dean for graduate studies and academic affairs, and has led HHP as interim dean since July 1, 2022. Her tenure will continue until June 30 when she completes her 22 years of service to ECU.

HHP’s college-wide meeting and celebration in April featured various awards for staff and faculty:

• Stephanie Boyd Award for Staff Excellence - Elizabeth Keeter;
• HHP Outstanding Researcher/Creative Activity Award - Dr. Nicholas Broskey;
• Ray Martinez Teaching Excellence Award - Dr. Sandra Lookabaugh;
• HHP Outstanding Professional Service Award - Sue Raedeke;
• HHP Outstanding Undergraduate and Creative Activity Mentor Award - Dr. Christine Habeeb;
• #HHPExperience Student Success Award - Jocelyn Ruffin

The Department of Health Education and Promotion was represented with three award-winners at the 2023-24 University Teaching Awards ceremony:

• Kelli Russell earned a Robert L. Jones Outstanding Teaching Award, for exemplifying characteristics of effective teaching outlined in the ECU faculty manual.
• Rose Haddock won a Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award, in recognition of full-time faculty who have taught at ECU for three or more years and who demonstrate exceptional teaching ability.
• Dr. Jo Anne Balanay earned a Scholar-Teacher Award for recognition of faculty who effectively integrate research and creativity with their teaching roles.

Dr. Angela Lamson (above, center), a Nancy W. Darden Distinguished Professor in human development and family science and the university’s interim assistant vice chancellor for economic and community engagement, was selected as a 2024 winner of the ECU Distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentor Award. The award announcement emphasized her inclusionary mentoring practices clearly influence the success of the medical family therapy students and their work to transform the communities they serve. One student wrote that Lamson’s “mentorship is defined by her deep investment in our growth and success. Her organized weekly writing groups, guidance in our career development, and steadfast support in our research and clinical endeavors demonstrate the significant and positive influence she has on our professional journey.”

Dr. Christine Habeeb, assistant professor in kinesiology, received the ECU Five-Year Research & Creative Activity Award. Habeeb’s work focuses on improving performance, teamwork and well-being in sport and military settings. Also, Dr. Abby Schwartz, associate professor in the School of Social Work, director of the BSW program and coordinator of the Gerontology Program, was announced as a mid-career winner for an ECU Trendsetter Award, a REDE-established program to recognize the research and creative work of faculty who have the expertise and enthusiasm to forge a path and inspire their peers. And Department of Human Development and Family Sciences chair Dr. Sharon Ballard was recognized for leadership as part of colleague-nominated ECU Centennial Awards for Excellence, for “going the extra mile every day to make a difference” on campus in the areas of leadership, service or spirit.

The inaugural HHP Experiential Learning Expo was held in the Rivers Building and organized by Jennifer Cranford, HHP’s director of special programming and learner success and support. This unique event led to providing students and mentors the platform to present their work in experiential learning, emphasizing the importance of student transformative experiences to a floating and engaged audience.

HONORS

Throughout the last several weeks, the Honors College has been recognizing our graduates who will be attending prestigious programs with our “Got Hooked” spotlight series. Some of these include:

• Kassidy Johnson — fully-funded degree at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Eshelman School of Pharmacy
• Meghan Guter — High Point University’s Physician Assistant program
• Javier Limon — Master of Public Administration at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Government
• Caitlyn Mayo — ECU’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program
• Caroline Knox — UNC-Wilmington’s Clinical Psychology PhD program
• Bradly Boaz — UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan Flagler Business School’s MBA program

The Brinkley-Lane Scholars program celebrated the seniors who are graduating this year during the senior celebration. This year’s graduates are Ashby Dickerson, Tete Narh-Mensah, Gaelle Desert, Kyia Riddick, Imaan Siddiqi, Breanna Sapp, Agne Shields, Matthew Sadlowski, Anjalee Hou, Javier Limon, Aaditi Kulkarni, Marzuq Islam, Fosua Dadson, Cassidy Fitz-Randolph, Toby Bryson, Luke Boldt, Trip Brooks, Rebekah Arensman, Noah Watkins and Ehime Abhulimen. Ono Abhulimen, Lindsey Fleishman and Rylie Warren — 2023 graduates — were also recognized with their graduating cohort.

The Honors College celebrated the Class of 2024 graduates during our Medallion Ceremony where students receive an honors medallion showcasing the completion of Honors College requirements and dedication to academic excellence.

INTEGRATED COASTAL PROGRAMS

Dr. Reide Corbett, Dean of Integrated Coastal Programs, was selected to serve on the NC Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel on Coastal Hazards. The Coastal Resources Commission, or CRC, was created when the General Assembly adopted the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) in 1974. The CRC establishes policies for the N.C. Coastal Management Program and adopts rules for both CAMA and the N.C. Dredge and Fill Act. The commission designates areas of environmental concern, adopts rules and policies for coastal development within those areas, and certifies local land use plans. The Science Panel reviews the current state of the knowledge of coastal processes and ecological function of coastal North Carolina, and provides the CRC with scientific data and recommendations pertaining to coastal topics (e.g., rules for Estuarine and Ocean Areas; coastal erosion management; planning for sea level rise).

Dr. Reide Corbett also helped Ocracoke celebrate Earth Day by serving as the keynote speaker for the weekend celebration. Corbett, pictured above, presented “North Carolina’s Changing Coast: Sea level, Storms, and People” at the Ocracoke Community Center. The presentation provided important context to coastal change that is currently impacting the coastal village. The presentation was followed by more than an hour of questions and discussion around future challenges and solutions.

The North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program (NCROEP), led by the Coastal Studies Institute, held its annual research Symposium in early April. Faculty and students from partner universities including ECU, NCSU, UNC-Charlotte, NC A&T attended and gave updates about their ongoing NCROEP-funded projects. Keynote speakers at the two-day event included Dr. Ryan Coe (Sandia National Laboratories) and Dr. Tim Mundon (Oscilla Power). Dr. Michael Dickey (NCSU) was the 2024 EDGE Award winner for his innovative research in developing novel materials for marine energy applications. More about the Symposium can be found HERE.

The Coastal Studies Institute will once again offer summer day camps in 2024. The camps are for students ages 10 - 15. Camps will be held Monday - Friday, June 10 - August 9, excluding the week of July 4. The registration fee is $375. A few seats are still available for Sustainable Seas, an oceanography and coastal engineering camp, on July 15 - 19. There is also an option to be added to any session’s waitlist. For more information about CSI Summer Camps, visit the website HERE.

ICP Scholarship Awards

Integrated Coastal Programs is proud to offer two different scholarships to graduate students annually. The Anja Sjostrom Memorial Scholarship, created to honor the late Integrated Coastal Sciences PhD student, is awarded to one student with a focus in coastal studies that also hopes to make a difference in coastal communities. The 2024-2025 recipient of the award is Elnaz Pezeshki, an Integrated Coastal Sciences (ICS) PhD Student with an interest in water resources and the influence of climate change on water. Prior to her start of the ICS PhD, Pezeshki conducted research on the impact of climate change on extreme events and river discharge. In this program, she is researching the impact of climate change on saltwater intrusion and enhancing the resilience of coastal watersheds to saltwater intrusion.

The Mary Ferebee Howard Scholarship in Marine Studies is awarded annually to at least one full-time graduate student focused on coastal and marine sciences who not only shows potential in their field but also participates regularly in extracurricular activities and is actively involved in the community. This year, there are four recipients of this award:

• Madeline Roth is an ICS PhD student with a focus on maritime heritage and cultural resource management. Prior to entry into this program, Roth received her M.A. through ECU’s Maritime Studies Program in 2018. After that, Roth worked as an underwater archaeologist for NOAA, which sparked a passion for federal heritage management and an interest in re-developing federal heritage processes to account for the intimate relationships that people build with place.
• Cambria Miller, M.S. Student in the Department of Biology, works with ICP’s Dr. Jim Morley in the Marine Fisheries Ecology Lab studying the tropic impacts of invasive blue catfish in the Albemarle Sound. Cambria came to ECU in Fall 2023 from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.
• Jillian Eller is an ICS PhD student that chose to participate in this program for many reasons, one of them being the partnership with the Atlantic Marine Energy Center. Eller’s interests lie in marine renewable energy, marine spatial planning, and local knowledge that can influence the implementation of marine energy technologies. Eller hopes to contribute to social sustainability and change.
• Megan Geesin is an ICS PhD student that is assessing the ecological and societal benefits and tradeoffs of oyster breakwaters. Geesin’s background is in ecology and she wants to apply her knowledge of ecology and social sciences to address coastal issues such as increased erosion rates, sea level rise, and the loss of important ecosystems.

ICP congratulates the 2024 recipients of both of these scholarships!

JOYNER LIBRARY

Our library director, Jan Lewis, is leading efforts on campus for a groundbreaking national study on artificial intelligence. ECU is joined by 19 other universities, including Princeton, Yale, Temple and Carnegie Mellon — and Duke as the only other N.C. institution — and reporting research data to Ithaka S+R to create the nation’s “largest qualitative dataset to date on AI issues and opportunities related to teaching, learning and research in higher education.”

Reading day in the library included a visit from ECU baseball team members, the morning after the Pirates defeated N.C. State in a rivalry game, and the chance for students to pet and interact with Deputy Drifter with the Pitt County’s Sheriff’s Office. These were highlights as part of the library offering exam week programming to support student success.

Martha Elmore (above, right), manuscript archivist, was honored at the Society of North Carolina Archivists’ conference in Raleigh for winning the Thornton W. Mitchell Service Award. This award recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the archival profession in North Carolina.

A Joyner Library Students Awards Ceremony was held and student employee awards were honored to Kelley Burton, Khaliyah Cheek, Michaela Hoots and Peyton Rogers. The ceremony also included recognition for W. Keats Sparrow Wright Awards, topped by Evan Lloyd in first place.

Members of our Special Collections Division attended the Society of North Carolina Archivists conference. The trip included Patrick Cash, manuscripts curator and a new ECU Leadership Development Academy member, elected as vice president of the SNCA. The 2025 SNCA conference will be hosted at ECU.

Members of our staff — Jeanne Hoover, Laura Bright, Amy Cooley, William Gee and Sonia Brown — collaborated with George Cherry Jr., representing the Student Government Association, for a display featuring books about leadership, growth and other inspirations. The display is located on the library’s first floor next to Starbucks.

LAUPUS HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY

Director Beth Ketterman, in her role as chair of the International Federation of Libraries Association's Health and Biosciences Libraries Section, stewarded the successful process to have Universal Access to Healthcare Information as a Human Right adopted as an official IFLA statement. The statement will be shared with the World Health Organization, global library associations, and other interested parties to promote that everybody should have access to quality health information.

Congratulations to Marlena Rose, AD for Collections and Historical Services, for a successful first year on the Board of Directors for the Society of North Carolina Archivists. Rose (far left, second row in photo) moderated a panel discussion, “Right Back Where We Started From: Collection Management and Processing of Wilson Library’s Backlog,” at this year's annual meeting at the Wilson Library at UNC-Chapel Hill.

During exams, Laupus provided support to our students with a visit from sweet Fae, the therapy dog. We wish all our spring graduates the best in the next steps of their journey.

Registration is open for the 2024 Health Sciences Author Recognition Awards

Laupus Library created the awards program in 2005 to honor ECU's Health Sciences faculty and staff for their published research and scholarly contributions to their area of study. This year’s eligibility criteria include editorially reviewed books, book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles. Submissions must be published between July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2024, to qualify for recognition. Registration will close September 1, 2024.

Click here to apply: Health Sciences Author Recognition Application

The 2024 awards ceremony will be held in November. Additional event information will be communicated closer to November. Questions? Check the website HERE or email Courtney Horns.

NURSING

On Thursday, March 28, Drs. Shannon Powell and Michael Jones from the College of Nursing and Dr. Leigh Cellucci from the College of Allied Health Sciences, visited with a delegation from the West African nation of the Gambia. The visit was hosted by the Office of Global Affairs to assist the University of The Gambia who is seeking to establish advance practice nursing program and looking to join with ECU to establish partnerships for research, faculty and student exchanges and other nursing development opportunities.

Dr. Donna Roberson was honored with the opportunity to provide the second annual Pattie L. Browder lectureship at East Tennessee State University’s College of Nursing April 9. Her presentation, titled “Owen’s Story: The critical importance of nurses in the role of patient and family advocate,” was a discussion of her grandson’s brain tumor story and the many nurse advocates she and her family encountered along the way.

This month the College of Nursing held an inaugural joint Faculty and Staff Organization event to close out the academic year where the group acknowledged the importance of continued faculty and staff collaboration and celebrated Staff Appreciation Month. The meeting was an opportunity to celebrate and honor the College’s standouts, including retiring faculty including Drs. Wanda Lancaster and Patricia Fazzone for their leadership, sacrifices and many years of service; staff who received service awards; and students and faculty who received DAISY Awards for demonstrations of conspicuously compassionate care. We also had the great fortune to host Pirate Nurse alumni Barb Bancroft who gave a humorous presentation called “Laughter is the Best Medicine.”

The College’s Culture and Engagement committee, comprised of CON faculty and staff, participated in the Laupus Health Sciences Library Spring Fling earlier this month. Spring Fling is an annual Health Sciences Diversity and Information Fair and was held in the courtyard between the College and the Health Sciences Student Center. The College of Nursing’s C&E committee hosted a table to help educate and inform participants about diversity in the CON, at ECU and in the surrounding community.

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