PROVOST'S MESSAGE
Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
On October 16, 2021, ECU hosted 820 students at Fall Open House. It was, simply put, a great day to be a Pirate! You couldn't help but smile as you observed excited students and their families and friends exploring our campus and the opportunities an ECU education can provide. No matter where you walked on this campus, you could feel energy, anticipation, excitement, and engagement. Our undergraduate admissions staff were enthusiastic and everyone involved was helpful and welcoming.
It was certainly exciting to see so many prospective students on our campus, but even more exciting was to witness the level of engagement of our entire campus community in the event. Students were giving tours all around the mall, staff were providing vital information about services and opportunities on our campus, and faculty and advisors were using their expertise to share our academic mission. Everywhere you turned, you could see Pirate Nation going above and beyond to make ECU feel like home for these prospective students. The outcome? After just five days of "free application week," our total applications are well above our 12-day total from a year ago. That is no coincidence. When Pirate Nation shows up, it makes a difference. All fall presenters at our recruiting events have been imploring prospective students throughout the state and Virginia to come to campus and give ECU an in-person look. We know that when students come here to interact with our exceptional faculty and staff and see the incredible condition of our beautiful campus, they feel a sense of belonging that they don't feel at other campuses. I have heard these stories firsthand many times and we continued to hear them at Open House this fall.
In the competitive enrollment environment in which we currently exist, an "all hands on deck" approach to student recruitment is required, and is exactly what we saw on October 16. We talked about this approach in our spring Enrollment Summit. A "ONE ECU" approach to enrollment is more important than ever. We all have a part to play in this effort: from our engagement in recruiting events, to our messaging with our colleagues, to our interactions with our students on campus right now - in everything we do, we must do it as ONE ECU, communicating "We want you here at ECU" and "We want you to be successful here at ECU."
Thank you to all that made Fall Open House such a special event and thank you for your continued efforts to serve and grow Pirate Nation.
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BY THE NUMBERS
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AROUND ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
PIRATE ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER
The College Reading and Learning Association has selected Victoria Hinson as the 2021 Peer Educator of the Year. This national award recognizes undergraduates who serve in a college learning center and perform exemplary work in the support of student success. Victoria is a senior at East Carolina University, and is pursuing degrees in B.S. in Mathematics Education, a B.A. in Chemistry, as well as a B.A. in Mathematics.
Nominated by the Pirate Academic Success Center staff, Victoria’s recognition is an honor for her, the PASC and East Carolina University. Victoria has served at the Pirate Academic Success Center for the past three years as a mentor, math tutor, and study skills coach and has earned CRLA Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 leadership certifications. With the help of the College of Education, Victoria will travel to CRLA’s national conference later this month to accept her award.
OFFICE OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS
ECU celebrates International Education Week November 15-19. There are a host of activities on campus and online for students, faculty and staff throughout the week. A few highlights:
- Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program Panel Discussion: Learn how you can get involved in the U.S. Department of State's most prestigious international program for faculty and research scholars.
- Open House / Moroccan Tea: Learn more about how Global Affairs can assist you in your international endeavors while enjoying a traditional Moroccan Tea ceremony.
- Cooking with… : Cook international dishes along with celebrity ECU faculty chefs! Empanadas. Garlic Spaghetti. Aloo-Jhinge Posto.
Help build a more welcoming and inclusive community for international students, faculty, and staff at ECU. Global Zone Training provides an interactive and engaging opportunity for you to better understand the challenges international Pirates face and develop strategies for helping them navigate rough waters. Be a part of a network of advocates and allies who strengthen international Pirates’ sense of belonging and reinforce our commitment that all Pirates will be academically supported and professionally prepared. Lunch is provided, but space is limited. Sign up today!
- Training Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2021
- Time: 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM
- Location: Main Campus Student Center – Room 307
The Office of Global Affairs is excited to welcome Rose Malone as the newest member of our team. Rose will be joining us as a coordinator of faculty-led study abroad programs. Rose has extensive experience working both directly with students in an advisory capacity and with faculty in support of study abroad programming. Most recently, Rose served as an education abroad advisor at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County.
OFFICE FOR EQUITY & DIVERSITY
Diversifying East Carolina University’s faculty pipeline with emphasis on groups underrepresented in their field is the primary objective of the Emerging Scholars Symposium, hosted by the Office for Equity and Diversity. After reformatting last years’ event to a two-day Symposium in 2020, this year, we returned to our typical three-day format. Due to the ongoing global pandemic, the Symposium, held October 27-29, 2021, continued in a virtual space this year.
The fall 2021 Symposium brought in 10 advanced doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars representing a range of disciplines from the Colleges of Allied Health Sciences, Business, Education, Health and Human Performance, Arts and Sciences, and the Schools of Dental Medicine and Medicine.
Chancellor Philip Rogers welcomed our scholars and talked about ECU and some of the exciting things happening here. Scholars learned about our academic programs through a roundtable discussion with Deans from participating colleges/schools, led by Interim Provost Grant Hayes. The Symposium featured Scholar Research/Clinical Presentations, which were open to the campus community and showcased the great work of our scholars.
During their experience, scholars engaged with administrators, faculty and students through a workshop and panel discussions about faculty life and the student experience at ECU. Virtual tours and networking events provided the scholars with additional information about the campus and Greenville community.
This fall 2021 Symposium featured some new elements, including feature presentations from faculty engaging in diversity and inclusion research and scholarship:
- “Early Literacy Professional Development and Support for Child Care Providers in Eastern North Carolina through Shared Reading and Diverse and Inclusive Storybooks.” Dr. Sheresa Blanchard, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education/Special Education/Early Intervention in the Department of Human Development & Family Science in the College of Health and Human Performance.
- “Health Equity Advanced Through Structural Competency (HEAT-SC).” Dr. Kristin Black, Assistant Professor in Health Education and Promotion in the College of Health and Human Performance; Dr. Courtney Caiola, Assistant Professor of Nursing Science in the College of Nursing; Dr. Irma Corral, Assistant Dean for Diversity & Inclusion; Associate Professor and Director for the Division of Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine in the Brody School of Medicine.
- “Digital Inclusion for North Carolina Farmworkers in a Pandemic: Lessons for implementing and promoting sustainable internet connectivity.” Dr. Leslie Cofie, Assistant Professor of Health Education and Promotion in the College of Health and Human Performance.
Through partnership with the ECU Graduate School, a scholar panel discussion featuring our scholars as the panelists was another new feature of the 2021 Symposium. ECU graduate students were invited to meet with our scholar panel to learn about their journey and ask questions to support their current student success and help with post-graduate planning and decision making.
We plan to host our next Emerging Scholars Symposium in fall 2022 and expect to return to our previous format on campus! For more information, contact the Office for Equity and Diversity at oed@ecu.edu or 328-6804.
ACADEMIC OUTREACH AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
The WCET State Authorization Network (SAN) has selected East Carolina University as one of four winners of the 7th annual SANsational Awards. These awards recognize outstanding efforts by SAN member institutions and organizations in developing a high-quality, comprehensive solution to a challenging state authorization issue. Charlene Lee, the university’s SARA Compliance Specialist, oversaw the nomination process in the category of “Location: Identifying student location for regulatory compliance and reporting requirements.” Charlene worked with a team across our campus to help better determine the location of students. ECU identifies the location of the student at the time of admission and every time thereafter they register for classes. This information is important to help with the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) reporting, among other reporting requirements ECU may have. This information also helps us provide professional licensure disclosures to the students. East Carolina University now has the distinction of being the first institution in the state of North Carolina to receive a SANsational award. There will SAN representatives on campus November 8th to officially present the award.
UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS AND STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
The campus-based scholarship process promoting over 1,100 opportunities for our students kicks off November 1. Please encourage students to visit ECUAWard (available through Pirate Port) and file an application. The scholarship window will remain open (for most opportunities) through January 15, 2022. Note the exceptions to this deadline are in the health sciences areas of nursing, dental, and medicine, which have slightly later deadlines due to their admissions processes. Last year there were just under 10,000 scholarship applications filed by interested students and nearly 2,700 scholarship offers made as part of the annual scholarship process. Promotional information will start appearing across campus this month to encourage students to apply. Questions about the process should be directed to scholarships@ecu.ecu.
The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) opened for the 2022-2023 academic year on October 1, 2021. Incoming and existing students should apply as soon as possible to ensure they are in the queue as early as possible for the best funding opportunities. Additionally, Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III (HEERF III) funding has started being distributed to aid our students. The first round of funds was processed on October 5 and we have continued to push aid weekly since then. To date, we have awarded $13Million in HEERF III funds to nearly 8,000 students. It is anticipated there will be a spring distribution with details of the process to follow in the coming weeks.
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COLLEGE UPDATES
ARTS & SCIENCES
Alex Albright, founder of the North Carolina Literary Review and a 38-year-long professor of English who retired from ECU in 2018, has received the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, the highest award given by the North Carolina Humanities. The award is given in recognition of distinguished individuals who have strengthened the education, cultural and civic life of North Carolinians through their life’s work. Previous awardees include James W. Clark, Jr. (2020), Jaki Shelton Green (2019), Margaret D. Bauer (2018) and Bland Simpson (2017). To read a press release about Albright, and information about the virtual ceremony held Friday, Oct. 29, visit NC Humanities.
Mikayla Dixon and Katherine Foster, seniors in geological sciences and biology, are two of four East Carolina University students to receive a prestigious N.C. Space Grant Scholarship. Dixon hopes to learn how similar the formation of Mars was to Earth, and Foster is focused on the detection of biosignatures in the form of organic minerals produced by proteobacteria. She hopes to one day apply her geology degree to space science. Read more about their plans and those of fellow awardees, engineering majors, Elliot Paul and Nia Wilson.
Harriot College faculty, staff, and students (including the Departments of Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Geological Sciences, and Geography, Planning and Environment) recently participated in the opening of the Greenville branch of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Read about some of their experiences in the article, "North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Opens Branch in Greenville," by the East Carolinian.
Morgan Banville (English; Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication PhD student) recently was featured in an interview on The Big Rhetorical Podcast, Emerging Scholar Series. Listen here. As a third-year doctoral student, Banville’s research interests include the intersection of technical communication and privacy/surveillance studies, often informed by feminist methodologies. She is currently the Graduate Co-Editor of The Peer Review journal, and recently published in the proceedings of the 39th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication (SIGDOC ’21). The Big Rhetorical Podcast is hosted by Charles Woods (English).
Yoo Min Park and Rob Howard (Geography, Planning & Environment) published an article on "COVID-19 deaths in the United States: Shifts in hot spots over the three phases of the pandemic and the spatiotemporally varying impact of pandemic vulnerability" in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The study finds that hot spots of COVID-19 deaths have shifted from populated cities and socially vulnerable communities to the states with low vaccination rates, according to analysis with data from March 2020 to May 2021. It also suggests that the impact of pandemic vulnerability on COVID-19 deaths is spatially and temporally dynamic. This study is part of the collaborative project between Geography, Public Health, and Health Services & Information Management at ECU, and Vidant Health. This project was supported by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Research Fund via the 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act, North Carolina House Bill 1043 (Session Law 2020-4).
A team or researchers, including ECU’s Dr. Sid Mitra (Geological Sciences) has presented evidence that a Middle Bronze Age city called Tall el-Hammam, located in the Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea, was destroyed by a cosmic airburst. Could the biblical description of the destruction of Sodom be explained by an exploding meteor? Read the full article.
BUSINESS
Sharon Justice, a teaching instructor in the College of Business’ Department of Management, recently presented at the North Carolina Society of Human Resource Management. She spoke about how businesses that want to transform will require strong leaders that demonstrate courage, clarity, curiosity and commitment to persevere.
At the Oct. 18, 2021, Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Conference in Baltimore, the Miller School of Entrepreneurship won the Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center (schools with more than 5,000 students) award, along with Yale University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Winners represented programs that were less than five years old. Earlier this year, the Miller School won the 2021 USASBE Model Emerging Program Award, recognizing excellence in entrepreneurship education.
EDUCATION
Victoria Hinson was named the College Reading and Learning Association’s 2021 Outstanding Peer Educator of the Year. Victoria is a senior majoring in mathematics – secondary education and has been involved in several roles at the Pirate Academic Success Center.
Creating supportive spaces that allow Black women faculty to find their collective voice is important to four East Carolina University College of Education faculty members. Drs. Mikkaka Overstreet, Janeé Avent Harris, Loni Crumb and Christy Howard co-wrote an article, “Facing the Storm: Our First Annual Faculty of Color Writing Retreat as a Microcosm for Being a Black Woman in the Academy,” which was published in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. The article focused on their experience holding an inaugural faculty of color writing retreat. Learn more HERE.
Three College of Education faculty recently published research in their respective fields. Dr. Monica Gonzalez (MSITE), along with recent graduate Savannah Phillips, published an article titled “Zooming Through Number Talks: Considerations for Virtual Instruction.” Dr. Xi Lin (IDP) published an article titled “Using learners’ self-generated quizzes in online courses.” Dr. Phyllis Broughton (IDP) published an article titled “Engaging Generational Cohorts for Strengthening Membership.”
More than half of the 22 award-winning teachers from the Teach for America Network in North Carolina were prepared by ECU’s Teach for America residency partnership. You can learn more about these award-winners HERE.
ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
Developer Elliott Sidewalk Communities joined with university officials, Board of Trustees members, and local and state leaders in breaking ground on the $40 million first phase of Intersect East at ECU’s former warehouse district. The first phase includes 10,000 square feet in the former Export Leaf Building for the College of Engineering and Technology’s new digital transformation center that will cater to new and existing companies. Read more HERE.
Robert and Betty Hill, sponsors of the college’s annual Recognition of Excellence Awards Ceremony, visited campus on Oct. 15, meeting with Dean Harry Ploehn and recognizing their scholarship recipient Nimra Javed, a junior computer science major from Morrisville. COVID-19 caused the ceremony to be canceled in 2020 and 2021. Robert Hill is a 1962 graduate of ECU.
Pretzels and marshmallows made for good building blocks as Drs. Carol Massarra and Jodi Farrington, assistant professors in the Department of Construction Management, brought members of ECU’s chapter of the Associated General Contractors to the Farmville Public Library to introduce STEM to elementary school children. Read more HERE.
Dr. Mostafa Namian, assistant professor in the Department of Construction Management, has received a Department of Labor grant to support COVID-19 safety training for construction workers. He also teamed with Dr. Michael Behm in the Department of Technology Systems and student Mohammad Khalid for award-winning research that focused on the ethical use of drones in the construction industry. Read more HERE.
The college hosted its Student Organization and Appreciation Day, allowing students to explore various clubs while enjoying some free lunch. The in-person event drew hundreds of students, who missed out on the event last year because of COVID-19. Read more HERE.
FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION
ECU Storybook Theatre participated in Washington’s Smoke on the Water Festival on October 16. Under the direction of Patch Clark (Theatre for Youth/Theatre Education), the ready-to-perform ensemble connects young audiences to international folktales, iconic American poetry and participatory hijinks.
The School of Communication hosted Michelle Duke as a part of their Communication in the Now speaker series on October 21. The presentation and conversation was entitled “How DEI Impacts Your Communication Career: What You Need to Know for Your Career.” Duke is the President of the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation and the organization’s Chief Diversity Officer.
Journalism professors Cindy Elmore and Brian Massey have recently expanded their voter information website, Voter411ENC.org, to include Beaufort County. The site was launched to serve Pitt County in 2020 through the support of a College of Fine Arts and Communication Research and Creative Activity Award. The expansion is supported by the School of Communication.
Gabriela Estrada (dance) presented research and served on panels at the Dance Studies Association conference at Rutgers University and the National Dance Education Organization’s virtual conference, both held in October.
Catherine Gardner (soprano) performed “Waltzing the Spheres” by Jim Primosch and “To Wake the Dead” by Stephen Albert in part of a program, “Elegy,” with the 21st Century Consort. The performance was held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on October 9.
Christine Gustafson (flute) adjudicated the 2021 Young Artist Woodwinds Division of the NC Music Teachers’ National Association Competition. With Matthew Driscoll (trombone), she offered performances and workshops for students attending Orange County Schools in October.
Keiko Sekino (piano) was inducted into the Steinway and Sons Teacher and Educational Partner Hall of Fame on October 1. This induction marks the second time Sekino has been recognized for commitment and passion by the famed piano company.
Borim Song’s (art education) article “Reflect, Write, and Love Your R&R” appeared in the fall issue of By Design, the newsletter of the North Carolina Art Education Association.
An article by Music Education professors Cynthia Wagoner and Jay Juchniewicz, “A Critical Examination of Preservice Music Teachers’ Writing on the edTPA Portfolio,” appears in the October edition of the Journal of Music Teacher Education. The journal has an acceptance rate of 33 percent.
Ken Wyatt (film and video production) was interviewed by the Rochester Beacon for an article, “How COVID forced filmmakers to be more creative.” The piece appeared on September 22.
Summer Falgiano (BS ’15) is a finalist for a 2021 Platinum PR Award. Finalists will be recognized and bold, groundbreaking winners will be selected at a virtual awards gala on November 16. Falgiano works for CircleCl.
Stuart Kent (BFA ’05, MFA ’08), founder and director of the NC Furniture School in Farmville, was featured on “Good Morning America” recently in a series spotlighting the challenges faced by small businesses during the pandemic.
Emily Klingman (BFA ’10) received the 2021 Educator of the Year Award from the North Carolina Theatre Arts Educators. She teaches drama and theatre arts at Bailey Middle School in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system.
Broadway and West End star Marisha Wallace (BFA ’07) belted “The Star-Spangled Banner” while tethered safely to the highest point of London’s Tottenham Hostspur Stadium prior to the NFL contest between the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets on October 10.
HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Congratulations to Dr. Stephanie Richards from Health Education and Promotion. Dr. Richards received the Mike and Sherri Felts Regional Impact Research. It is a well-deserved honor and we are most fortunate to have Mike and Sherri’s continued support to reward and recognize the incredible achievements of our faculty.
Exploring Racism & Systemic Inequities through Students’ Memories (ERASISM) Photovoice Project exhibit will be displayed in Belk outside room 1201 through Monday, November 8. A new site location will be announced soon.
Research News:
- Dr. JK Yoon, Kinesiology, “Training Leaders to Improve Education and Health Outcomes of Individuals with High-Intensity Needs: A Multi-Institution Mentorship Consortium” - ED - Department of Education
- Dr. Eric Soule, Department of Health Education and Promotion, “Impact of Waterpipe Tobacco Packaging on Young Adults' Perceptions resubmission” - Wake Forest University School of Medicine
HONORS
Senior EC Scholar Sophie Villani won Captain of the Ship during ECU’s Homecoming celebrations. Sophie is a public health major with minors in nutrition & promoting health equity in health and human services. She is also a member of Alpha Xi Delta and one of the Honors College’s student workers! Sophie has volunteered with numerous organizations including the ECU Community School, the FEED lab & the Boys & Girls Clubs.
The junior EC Scholars spent fall break in Asheville, NC for one of the high-impact experience trips. During their retreat, they participated in bonding exercises, visited the Biltmore estate and volunteered with RiverLink, an organization promoting environmental and economic vitality of the French Broad River and its watershed.
INTEGRATED COASTAL PROGRAMS
Dr. Mike O’Driscoll (Department of Coastal Studies and ECU Water Resources Center), Dr. Charlie Humphrey, Dr. Guy Iverson, (Department of Health Education and Promotion), Dr. John Hoben (Department of Biology and ECU Water Resources Center), Dr. Natasha Bell (Department of Engineering and ECU Water Resources Center), and graduate students Jennifer Richardson, Ann Marie Lindley (Department of Geological Sciences), and Jordan Jernigan (Department of Health Education and Promotion) have been working with the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and the Upper Neuse River Basin Association to improve understanding of nutrient loading to Falls Lake, Raleigh’s primary water supply. They recently completed a report to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) entitled “A Paired-Watershed Approach to Evaluate the Influence of Onsite Wastewater Nutrient Inputs to Falls Lake, NC.” This study quantified the impacts of septic systems on nutrient loading to Falls Lake. The results showed that in the Triassic Basin geological setting, streams draining watersheds utilizing septic systems had elevated nutrient loading. The study was presented to the Upper Neuse River Basin Association and NC DEQ on October 5 and is being utilized to assist with efforts to reduce nutrient loading to the lake.
Dr. Teresa Ryan’s (Department of Engineering and Coastal Studies Institute) senior-level special topics course (ENGR4503: Special Topics in Atmospheric Acoustics and Professional Communication) completed a successful field data collection session at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head. Department of Engineering students Rachel Beavans, Emma Cole, Nia Wilson, and Erica Walker will present their work “Moisture and Grain Size Variation with Depth and Distance from Sandy Seashore” at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium (SNCURCS) on November 13. Engineering senior Nia Wilson will also present progress on her related NC Space Grant supported project at SNCURCS: “Experimental infrastructure to assess temporal variability of atmospheric temperature gradient.” Both of these undergraduate research efforts supports the larger question of how atmospheric conditions and the composition of the shoreline affect sound propagating near the seashore.
Dr. David Lagomasino (Department of Coastal Studies) was interviewed by Miami-based WSVN Channel 7 Weather team focused on his mangrove work in South Florida and a recent paper Lagomasino led in Nature Communications (Lagomasino et. al., "Storm surge and ponding explain mangrove dieback in southwest Florida following Hurricane Irma"). The pod cast focuses on the importance of these habitats in coastal systems and recovery post-storm. Listen HERE.
CSI recently worked with Dare County’s CurrentTV to provide an informational video focused on recent studies of beach nourishment. Dr. Reide Corbett, along with researchers Anya Leach and Paul Paris provided background information on the replenishment process and the long-term study being conducted and the potential impacts to the beach environment. Over the years most research has focused on the social, economic, or engineering aspects of the practice. Only within the last few decades has there been a more concerted effort directed at the environmental consequences, and much remains to be learned about how replenishment alters--for the good or the bad--the ecosystems within and immediately adjacent to the replenished site. CSI research is helping to fill in some of these knowledge gaps. Watch it HERE.
Dr. Mike Muglia (Department of Coastal Studies) recently received funds from a DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant focused on developing a wave energy powered offshore transmitter that would help support the land-based HF Radar stations that transmit and receive a high-frequency radar signal. These radar signals are used to measure ocean surface currents over a vast region of the ocean. The range and coverage of the ocean surface current measurements is limited by the distance the land transmitted signal can travel over the ocean, be reflected, and received. Having a transmitter offshore will help compliment the limited coverage available from the land-based stations.
Anja Sjostrom (Integrated Coastal Sciences PhD student) recently published an article that used social and ecological analysis to gain insights into commercial fisheries. The study found that logbook and interview data assessment illuminated market and ecological drivers of fishing behavior. Generally, the work showed that a mixed-methods approach can provide a more thorough assessment of long-term interest the nearshore groundfish fishery. The article can be found HERE.
Dr. Reide Corbett (Coastal Studies), together with several scientific colleagues from other NC Institutions provide the scientific background for day long summit sponsored by Representatives Greg Murphy, David Rouzer and G.K. Butterfield. The summit, entitled, Water Adaptation To Ensure Regional Success (WATERS) brought together scientific experts and local, state, and federal leaders to consider current threats across the coastal plain and consider future challenges. Corbett provided an overview of sea level rise across North Carolina, from the geologic past to projections out to 2100. Many local news organizations picked up the significance of the meeting.
LIBRARIES
Joe Barricella, John Dunning, Kelsey Dwyer, Andrew Grace, and Walter Lanham published the peer-reviewed article Professional Development during a Pandemic: Transforming a Conference for Library Paraprofessionals in the Spring/Summer 2021 issue of North Carolina Libraries.
Colise Hunt presented A Conversation with DEI Librarians: What We Learned at the Florida Association of College & Research Libraries Conference.
Jeanne Hoover co-presented Professional Development for Open Education Leaders: A Community Dialogue at the Open Education Conference.
Numerous ALS faculty and staff presented at the biennial North Carolina Libraries Association conference in October.
- William Gee presented two posters as well as the session Purchase-on-Demand through Interlibrary Loan: A 15 Year Retrospective.
- Jennifer Daugherty moderated and Jo Overstreet was a panelist for the Words Matter: Reparative Work Through Language session. Daugherty also was a panelist for Be Yourself: Career Paths for Library and Information Professionals.
- Jeanne Hoover moderated a discussion group on Adapting OER to fit your needs: supporting and empowering instructors to enhance their courses.
- Joseph Thomas co-presented two sessions: Copyright and Fair Use: Policies & Preparation for Future Library Professionals and Managing the transition to online internships for library science students.
- Mark Sanders co-presented two posters as well as the session Technology out of turbulence: tools, tricks and trends in 2021.
- Andrew Grace and Walter Lanham presented the session Talk the Plank: Podcasting as Pirates about their Pirates in the Library podcasts.
- Ralph Scott presented a poster on the William Sumner Jenkins Microfilm Collection.
- Alyssa Coleman, a graduate student employee in ALS, presented a poster on pet therapy in libraries.
- Jennifer Daugherty was elected Membership Director for the Eastern Region of NCLA and will serve as Director for the Special Collections Roundtable.
- Lisa Barricella was elected Vice-Chair/Chair Elect and Patricia Dragon was re-elected secretary-treasurer of the Resources and Technical Services Section of NCLA.
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