MITCHELSON'S MEMO

Just to be clear, the real first Monday was Labor Day, so this particular First Monday comes to you on the second Monday in September. Some other things are equally clear. Thanks to some great Pirate team work, our new student numbers are up in each of the three key categories: first-time/first-year students are up 191 over last year; new transfers are up 11 over last year (despite a more challenging market); and our new graduate cohort is up by 179 over fall 2018. In addition, we graduated over 7,100 students last academic year (a record), so we experienced a slight decline in total enrollment from 28,718 (fall 2018) to 28,651 (fall 2019). This summary result is much better than we expected, and that success can be attributed to the hard work of our entire campus and the leadership of Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions. THANK YOU ALL! Most of you are aware that we made an assortment of changes within Undergraduate Admissions last year—more recruiters located in key urban markets, changes in leadership, a much larger investment in yield (admitted to enrolled) activities, and improved on-campus tours, among others. Most of that change was focused on recruiting the first-time/first-year cohort. These efforts have been met with good results; however, you can expect continued innovation and change as we address undergraduate transfer students and graduate recruitment in the coming year.

Let’s focus some attention on undergraduate transfers and Pirate Promise. Pirate Promise is our co-admission program with a growing number (currently 20) of NC Community Colleges. Transfer students are about 30 percent of our total undergraduate population, so they are very important from that quantitative perspective alone. This fall, we have enrolled 1,865 new transfer students and about 70 percent will come from the NC Community College System. Our primary “feeders” are Pitt CC, Wake Tech, Wayne CC, Cape Fear CC, Johnston CC, Craven CC, Central Piedmont CC, Fayetteville Tech, Lenoir CC, and Nash CC. We are working hard to include these and other community colleges in Pirate Promise. Chancellor Dan Gerlach and I have made recent trips to Wake Tech, Brunswick CC, and Cape Fear CC. In all cases, we are being enthusiastically received, and, in most cases, we are greeted by ECU graduates in key leadership positions. We are headed to Fayetteville Tech in the near future to add them as partners. In addition, we will be hosting our first Pirate Promise Conference with all of our CC partners. This convening had been scheduled for last Friday, but was postponed due to the antics of Dorian. Registrar Angela Anderson and her team are playing a key infrastructural role in facilitating the transfer process with up-to-date four year transfer degree plans and the first successful approach to electronic transfer of student records (piloted by Zach Loch at ECU with Johnston CC). In addition, we have extended our RaiseMe micro-scholarship program to Pirate Promise students. We now have high school and community college students earning performance-based scholarships to attend ECU.

One of the things that we commonly hear from our CC partners is the need for more precise articulation agreements. These already exist for a number of programs including BS Industrial Technology, BS Construction Management, and BS B-K Education. In fact, the BS Industrial Technology will receive the Bourne Award as the nation’s outstanding online program for four- year degree completion by the Online Learning Consortium. Congratulations to Dean Ploehn, Chair TJ Mohammad, and Director David Batts for illustrating what a strong relationship with community colleges can yield in terms of program quality and significant enrollment. They are modeling some of our future for us, and I am very thankful.

Finally, I am asking each program to give careful consideration to articulating programs and recruiting students from the NC Community College System. This is in our collective best interest and we certainly want all students to be aware of the great opportunities they have at ECU. We have great support for these recruitment efforts in the Admissions Office and I encourage you contact Erica Hoyt for additional guidance. Chancellor Gerlach and I have declared this “the year of the transfer,” and I thank you in advance for your contributions to this endeavor.

Regards,

RonM

EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES

Check out this College STAR 3-2-1 Video (3 UDL principles, 2 minutes, 1 great idea) HERE. Each video in the 3-2-1 series will take only a couple minutes of your time and is designed to spark ideas for working with students. Each showcases staff and faculty from a variety of colleges and disciplines using practices aligned closely with the principles of Universal Design for Learning. Be in touch with College STAR or the Office for Faculty Excellence if you would like to learn more about an idea in one of the videos - or if you would like to make a 3-2-1 video yourself. In the video below, Dr. Elizabeth Coghill discusses crafting micro-moments for students:

Also, to learn more about UDL and neurodiversity on the ECU campus you can listen to Elizabeth's podcast HERE outlining what the Pirate Academic Success Center (PASC) is doing to implement UDL strategies in a holistic way that welcomes all students to campus.

PIRATE ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER (PASC)

Sixty-two Pirate Academic Success Center Learning Community students attended a week long academic bootcamp before the start of classes. After moving in early, PASC LC students attended four days of academic preparation workshops facilitated by peer academic success coaches and coordinated by PASC Assistant Director, Amber Arnold. Dr. Calvin Mercer provided a guest faculty lecture designed to introduce freshmen to the college classroom. PASC LC students participated in team building activities, gained active learning techniques, technology tips and Blackboard course management. Since 2013, the Pirate Academic Success Center has sponsored a year-long learning community program designed to foster the successful academic and social transition of incoming freshmen. Key to PASC learning community student success is frequent engagement in high impact practices including success coaching, common coursework, study groups and tutoring. To see PASC boot camp in action, click HERE.

Two hundred sixty-five Pirate Academic Success Center student staff members are ready to help their fellow Pirates succeed! PASC services include tutoring, study groups, academic success coaching, workshops, peer mentoring, and digital content support. For a full list of PASC Fall 2019 services click HERE. All services are free to ECU enrolled students.

• Tutoring by daytime appointment Monday – Friday from 10am to 7pm and drop in tutoring Monday-Thursday from 4:00pm – 6:00pm.
• Study Groups are available for course support. Faculty may request study groups for courses where they are currently not offered. Reach the Study Group Program staff by sending an e-mail to tutoring@ecu.edu.
• Student Referrals are accepted from faculty and staff by emailing Elizabeth Coghill, Starfish early alert submission, or by using the PASC referral form

PASC professional staff are always available to answer faculty questions, receive feedback about students’ study group experience, or listen to ideas on how to improve the program. Faculty are welcome to contact Dr. Elizabeth Coghill, PASC director.

RESEARCH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ENGAGEMENT

The Economic Growth Collaboratory has been focused on value-add agriculture since its launch through collective partnerships with N.C. State University, SAS software, regional companies, farms, governments, agricultural experts, and ECU faculty. The collaboratory pinpointed four major areas of focus including: food and crop emerging opportunities to address new foods, crops and biobased products; agricultural byproducts to address the potential to create new revenue from crops, processing or animals; supply chain and logistics to address transportation, freight and other sourcing challenges; and agricultural business improvement to address business planning, workforce training, entrepreneurship, and financial opportunities. Contact Keith Wheeler to learn more about the collaboratory.

In October, ECU will move to a new tool for sponsored program proposal development, routing and submission – eTRACS! Click HERE to see the changes coming with eTRACS and follow the entire eTRACS implementation process online. The new system will include many features designed to streamline the process of creating and submitting proposals.

Twenty ECU students, staff and faculty members expanded their entrepreneurial horizons this summer at the inaugural ECU Research Entrepreneurship Workshop. The workshop offered an opportunity to explore new venture creation in a safe-harbor environment. Participants explored commercialization options for their research over the course of a two-day workshop featuring experienced entrepreneurs who provided mentor assistance to attendees.

The Office of Export Controls and Customs (OECC) and ORIC have announced a new Export Control Annual Disclosure for EHRA faculty and staff. The purpose of the new disclosure is to allow OECC and ORIC the opportunity to better understand the research and activities within the university and how export controls may apply. The goal is to ensure ECU’s compliance with all applicable export control regulations. EHRA employees should have received a notice of the new requirement in their inbox. Any questions regarding this new disclosure should be directed to ECUExportControls@ecu.edu.

Faculty members will soon receive a special end-of-year report highlighting the great work ECU researchers did this past year. As a university, ECU set record in sponsored awards, interdisciplinary awards, submitted research proposals, and F&A awarded. Those records are already on track to be broken at the end of 2019. The continued growth of research and creative activities at ECU is inspiring and is a result of the hard work accomplished by our faculty, student researchers, innovators, and dedicated professional staff and administrators who support these programs. The report is also available for download HERE.

GLOBAL AFFAIRS

This summer, through the joint efforts of the Office of Global Affairs and the Department of Engineering’s Dr. Tarek Abdel-Salam, ECU welcomed 13 interns from Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, which is located in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The undergraduate students, majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Technology, worked on research with various faculty members across a broad swath of disciplines. Weekends were dedicated to learning more about the history and culture of the United States, including that of Eastern North Carolina and surrounding areas. One participant described the program as the “best time of our lives.” All students expressed interest in returning to ECU for graduate study, and we hope to welcome them to the Pirate Nation in the near future!

As part of our ongoing efforts to expand ECU’s global impact, the Office of Global Affairs is pleased to announce that applications for the university’s annual international awards are now open. These awards highlight the impactful contributions of ECU faculty and staff in the areas of international teaching, research/creative activity, and service. More information on this year's awards can be found at HERE. The application deadline is September 20th.

The 12th Annual Global Partners in Education Conference was held in Bogotá, Colombia in May. Our hosts at Universidad Piloto de Colombia (UPC) welcomed the ECU team and representatives from partner institutions from across the globe for this very impactful learning and networking event centered around our shared Global Virtual Exchange program. Issues that were discussed at the conference included advancing the organization’s research agenda, a new professional development program in the works, and the re-branding of our organization. ECU’s GPE management team of Drs. Jami Leibowitz, Chris Brighton, and Biwu Yang were joined by Dr. Tope Bello (COB) and Dr. Allen Guidry (COE) who discussed the new Global Virtual Exchange courses they are launching in global business and global education, respectively, as a part of a Department of Education grant.

The Office of Global Affairs and the Office for Faculty Excellence have organized two workshop series this year designed to assist faculty in their efforts to become more globally engaged. The first series – Forum on Comprehensive Internationalization – focuses on specific topics that may be of interest in individual faculty and staff members such as organizing a study abroad program, inviting visiting scholars or interns and building cultural competence in the classroom. The second series – Global Engagement Workshop Series – focuses on facilitating international collaboration, building institutional capacity, and creating networking opportunities in specific regions of the world. Details for both programs can be found at the links above.

OFFICE OF ACADEMIC OUTREACH, CONTINUING & DISTANCE EDUCATION

On August 17, the Lifelong Learning Program hosted its fall kickoff. Over 160 attendees had the opportunity to visit with over 25 instructors to learn more about course offerings. Attendees also had the opportunity to watch a brief lecture about Energy Medicine accompanied by singing bowls. This semester, Lifelong Learning is offering 56 courses, events, and trips, including popular courses such as Sustainability in Health Care, Financial Planning for Retirees, and Basics of Beekeeping. To learn more about the course offerings visit our website or contact Andrew Ross.

Continuing Professional Education staff partnered with the NC Department of Public Instruction to provide conference support and registration services for the 2019 CTE Summer Conference for Career and Technical Education teachers across the state on July 14-18, 2019. The conference was held at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center, part of the Sheraton in Greensboro, NC. The CPE staff received more than 450 abstract submissions and over 2,300 registrations for the conference. Participants had access to a conference app, which was also managed by the CPE staff. While on-site, the CPE staff checked in 2,159 CTE teachers using its on-demand badge printing capabilities, plus more than 115 speakers, exhibitors, and NC DPI Consultants. To learn more about Continuing Professional Education services for campus departments and off-campus partners visit our website or contact Danielle Rivenbark.

During 2018-19, ECU Testing Services proctored a total of 22,456 exams (UNC Online, Paper-based, CBT, Certification etc.) To better serve the increasing numbers of requests, we expanded the number of test administration dates for the PRAXIS teacher licensure exams for the upcoming year. Individuals will have at least 37 different test administration dates to choose from to take PRAXIS exams at the Testing Center in the Brewster Building during September 2019 through February 2020.

Several new changes are taking place at the ECU Proctoring Center. New screen monitoring software, additional seat capacity, and extended hours of operations are just a few of the upgrades to better serve the scheduling needs of our students. Pearson VUE licensure exams are also now offered at the ECU Proctoring Center. Please click HERE for more information.

On August 21, Charlene Lee, State Authorization Compliance Specialist, was recognized by the WCET/State Authorization Network (SAN) for the successful completion of the credential examination for State Authorization Basics Compliance Management.

COLLEGE UPDATES

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

ECU has been awarded the Student Success Innovation Lab (SSIL) Grant, which will fund our efforts to help more students finish their degrees in a timely fashion. Dr. Darek Maher, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, has been essential in our quest to receive this grant. With these funds, we will expand an existing Learning Assistant model to include additional gatekeeper courses in subject areas with high rates of D's, fails, and withdrawals. Thank you, Dr. Maher, for making this funding opportunity a possibility for ECU.

Jamie Kruse (Economics) has been elected as member of the Board of Directors of North American Alliance of Hazards and Disaster Research Institutes (NAAHDRI). NAAHDRI is a regional alliance of the Global Alliance for Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI), which serves as a forum for sharing knowledge and promoting collaboration on topics related to disaster risk reduction and resilience to disasters. GADRI was formed in 2015 and currently has 143 member institutes from 38 countries.

Madeline Tripp (Geography, Planning and Environment student) has been awarded a $4,400 grant from the Urban and Community Forest Program to conduct a tree inventory in the Uptown district of Greenville. Tripp will work with ECU and the Public Works Department to complete the project this coming fall semester.

Glenesha Berryman, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a second major in Great Books from ECU in spring 2019, has been awarded the Sherrill Carlson Fellow from the national Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Berryman is pursuing a Ph.D. in American culture at the University of Michigan, where she will work on histories of race and technology.

Lori Farley, a graduate student in the Department of Geological Sciences, was selected as a finalist in the Student Scholarship Poster Competition and presented her poster at the 14th annual Georgia Environmental Conference held on Jekyll Island August 21-23. The conference allows current and future professionals to exchange knowledge and share ideas about environmental issues in Georgia, the Southeast region, and beyond. By providing students the opportunity to present their research in the Student Scholarship Poster Competition, the GEC connects students with a range of environmental professionals: state, local, and federal government, industry, public health, water resources, consultants, academia, nonprofits, and more.

Darius Alexander, an undergraduate student majoring in Philosophy, participated this summer in Duke University’s Duke PLUS (Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars) 4-week residential program, a program aimed principally at students of color and first-generation college students planning on law school.

Aimee Smith (Psychology) was awarded the American Epilepsy Society Junior Investigator Award to research the costs of healthcare transition for adolescents and young adults with epilepsy over the next year.

Matthew Whited, also from the Department of Psychology, has started a podcast as a way to better inform lay audiences about health behavior change. He has been interviewing ECU faculty and students about their work and what they can advise people outside of academia to do in order to be healthy. You can find more information and listen to the podcast HERE. If you have a good topic idea for a future episode, contact Dr. Whited.

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Job placement after graduation is a concern for many students nearing the end of their academic careers. Thankfully, seven spring 2019 graduating seniors from them School of Hospitality Leadership (SHL) don't have to worry, since they gained employment with Marriott International for its Marriott Voyage, Global Leadership Development Program. This number of SHL graduates is the largest group hired by Marriott in more than eight years. “It is great for SHL to have a strong partner like Marriott International,” said Dr. Bob O’Halloran, SHL director. “They are the leading and largest lodging company in the world and they continue to return to the College of Business and SHL to recruit the next generation of leaders for Marriott properties across the country. The partnership reflects the quality of our program, our graduates and our students in the eyes of the industry.”

It's not every day when students can meet with some of the most successful business people in the state, but The Miller School of Entrepreneurship made this possible for 28 students this summer. The trip was a part of the School's regional advisory council site visit, which amounted to two-days filled with six companies. Paul Adkinson, entrepreneur and ECU alumni, stated that the visit highlighted two things about ECU: "One, our alumni are successful and eager to give back to our school and students; and two, our students are fantastic examples of how our university prepares them for the professional world.”

Beginning this fall, the College of Business (COB) will offer a new undergraduate degree in entrepreneurship through the Miller School of Entrepreneurship. The Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship program will be campus-based and require 120 hours of coursework. Students will take courses in topic areas such as entrepreneurial finance, sales and marketing, and strategy, as well as opportunity assessment, business planning, small and family business management, and new venture launch. The program will also include 18 hours for students to develop a specialty area of interest to help guide them through the business plan and new venture launch courses. To learn more about this program, click HERE.

Thanks to North Carolina Surplus Lines Association (NCSLA) and Dave and Pamela Leonard (of RSUI Insurance), 12 Risk Management and Insurance (RMI) students recently immersed themselves behind the scenes at Lloyds’ in London. This study abroad trip offered them the opportunity to discuss the international marketplace, liability and reinsurance markets, and underwriting.

Dr. Dennis Barber, III, assistant professor with the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, recently completed the Galliard Institute Family Business Advisor training program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Completion of the certification equips Dr. Barber with comprehensive tools to understand dynamics unique to family-owned and closely-held businesses. Barber is the only Galliard-certified advisor in eastern North Carolina, which means that he is "able to bring expanded expertise to owners of family firms and help them beyond just focusing on daily operations." His expertise is not only an asset to ECU, but also to eastern North Carolina, where many family-owned businesses are major economic drivers.

Dr. James Kleckley, Director of Professional Services and Research, recently presented on economic outlook for the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce. The presentation focused on leading U.S. economic indicators for the national economy, a national forecast for 2019-2020, and how the nation’s growth and outlook impact North Carolina and Wayne County. The Wayne County economic outlook is the first in a series of presentations the College of Business is making available to counties in eastern North Carolina. Along with providing actionable data, the College of Business also wants to highlight opportunities for growth and help communities develop strategies to make those opportunities become a reality. Read more about this program HERE.

Thanks to MIS alumna Angelena Brack, the annual COB MIS STEM camp continued over the summer. This year’s STEM camp consisted of two, five-day sessions, which included more than 40 young girls from across the region. Click HERE to learn more about the camp and Angelena's contribution.

Congratulations to Allison Leigh Pigora, a rising senior in the Risk Management and Insurance (RMI) program. She is the first RMI student ever selected for the Student Engagement Program of the 2019 Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) society. As a result of this honor, Allison will get to participate in the CPCU annual meeting in New Orleans, which is attended by thousands of RMI industry professionals. Read more HERE.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

The College of Education held a special Educators Hall of Fame induction Ceremony in Davie County for alumnus Henry Pryce’s contribution to education. He was nominated to the Hall of Fame by his lifelong friend and former roommate Dr. Jerry McGee, an ECU alumnus and president emeritus of Wingate University. Pryce graduated from ECU in 1966 and was a classroom teacher and coach for a decade. He worked to develop training standards for school bus drivers, driver education instructors and commercial driving schools and also served as president of North Carolina’s Passenger Safety Program. Read more HERE.

Akira Hall was selected as the 2018-19 ECU Educator Preparation Program Student Teacher of the Year. She is a Birth-Kindergarten Education program graduate and is currently employed at the ECU Community School.

Dr. Christina Tschida was on the planning committee for the inaugural Elementary Social Studies Education Summit (ESSES) which was held June 7-8 at UNC-Wilmington’s Watson School of Education. The summit brought together nearly 70 scholars, teachers, and graduate students involved in elementary social studies. Read more HERE.

Dr. Karen Jones won the Mildred B. & Charles A. Wedemeyer Award at the 35th annual Distance Teaching and Learning Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Jones received the award for her paper, titled “Finding the Customers: Challenges and Experiences Marketing K-12 Full-time Virtual Schools.” Read more HERE.

The Center for STEM Education hosted the 2019 AP Summer Institute (APSI) for AP teachers across the area. This year, APSI was able to expand their course offerings and introduce more resources for teachers. Besides learning new techniques, teachers were excited to form a network with fellow AP teachers and share experiences. Read more HERE.

The College of Education hosted the second annual Educator Excellence Summit on June 12 and 13 at the East Carolina Heart Institute. This two-day event covered a variety of topics, such as leadership, diversity, retention, and classroom harmony, among others. Throughout the summit, several sessions were taught simultaneously in the Heart Institute’s conference rooms. Attendees came from school districts across North Carolina ranging from Gates County in the northeast to Mecklenburg County in the southwest. Read more HERE.

Collaborating to break down silos in schools – this was the recurring theme throughout the second annual CONVEY Summer Institute hosted by the College of Education in collaboration with the College of Allied Health Sciences and Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. Throughout their coursework and institutes, CONVEY scholars learned how to interact as a team to advocate for and with learners with a wide range of disabilities. Read more HERE.

Three Counselor Education program faculty members, Drs. Loni Crumb, Janeé Avent Harris, and Allison Crowe, received recognition for having their respective articles recognized as one among the top 20 professional papers downloaded in acclaimed counseling journals published between January 2017 and December 2018 by Wiley Publishing Company. Their work generates immediate impact and visibility, contributing significantly to the advancement of the counselor education field. Read more HERE.

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

The College of Engineering and Technology has received a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Program (S-STEM) in an effort to support low-income students pursuing undergraduate engineering degrees. The grant will provide scholarships to 80 students total — a cohort of 40 students beginning in the fall semester of 2020 and a cohort of 40 more in the fall of 2021. Half of each cohort will begin as freshmen at ECU, while the other half will be distributed among three community college partners — Pitt Community College in Winterville, Lenoir Community College in Kinston and Wayne Community College in Goldsboro. Those students will complete their first two years of study at their respective community colleges with the intention to transfer to ECU to complete their degrees. ECU students with demonstrated financial need will be eligible for up to $10,000 per year, while community college (CC) students can receive up to $3,000 per year.

The North Carolina chapter of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA NC) presented $25,000 to Dr. Harry Ploehn, Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology, for an endowed scholarship for students in construction management at East Carolina University. The presentation took place at CMAA NC’s annual fundraising golf tournament at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary. The scholarship is an extended commitment for CMAA NC, which has donated money annually for a general scholarship to ECU for close to a decade.

A student and a professor in the Department of Engineering received honors at the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. Natalie Bell, a senior undergraduate student, took third place in the Health Systems Best Track Paper Award for her paper called “Insulin-glucose model for a model-based insulin pump controller.” Dr. Jinkun Lee, assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Technology with a concentration in Industrial and Systems Engineering, co-authored the paper.

About 20 computer teaching instructors participated in a high-stakes game of cybersecurity during a Competitive Labs-as-a-Service (CLaaS) workshop in July in the College of Engineering and Technology at East Carolina University. The workshop introduced a game developed by a team of ECU professors and students that is designed to provide participants a realistic computer network to defend against cyberattacks, while also allowing them to launch attacks against each other. Shun Chou, professor in the Department of Technology Systems who served as the facilitator of the workshop, led a team that received a $299,745 grant from the National Science Foundation in 2017 to develop the game that is designed to provide cybersecurity awareness education for ECU undergraduate students as well as community college students.

Two students and a professor from the College of Engineering and Technology represented East Carolina University at the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) national Professional Development Conference and Exposition in New Orleans. Dr. Michael Behm, professor of occupational safety in the Department of Technology Systems, was elected as vice president of the ASSP’s Council on Academic Affairs and Research. Behm will serve three years as chair of the council that is designed to oversee academic-related matters, including the development of educational standards and accreditation, student engagement and research-related activities for the ASSP. Two students, Floyd O’Connell and Kong Lee, attended the conference after research posters they created were accepted for presentation during the event.

COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION

Dr. Ed Jacobs, Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition, has developed a new collection of videos as a part of the NC NewMusic Initiative. This program brings world-renowned musicians to ECU to collaborate with students, which allows them to gain incredible experience and knowledge. UNC-TV will be featuring one of the videos on their network, which will earn the program state-wide attention. Check out the video HERE:

Cynthia Bickley-Green’s (art education) work is part of an exhibition entitled “Abstraction: Women Represent” at Bethesda Fine Art. The show features a selection of paintings, sculptures and works on paper by notable female artists from the last century. It investigates how a generation of women perceive their environment and represent their shared experiences on canvas, through shape and in form. Bickley-Green was one of 25 artists included in the North Carolina Museum of Art’s “Front Burner: Highlights in Contemporary North Carolina Painting” exhibition. From the museum’s press release, the exhibition “features a sampling of some of the most relevant and engaging painting being made in the state.” The show was held in the Pope Gallery from March through June.

Teal Darkenwald (dance) was an invited panelist and presenter at the first dance biomechanics symposium within the International Society of Biomechanics Congress in Calgary, Alberta. She additionally set choreography on dancers from the University of Calgary for a motion capture demonstration sponsored by Qualisys Motion Capture Systems. The work, performed at the closing banquet, incorporated real-time dance motion capture with projected avatars and included a demonstration of sonification motion capture suits in a variation on the dance piece created in collaboration with The Machine is Neither as part of the NC NewMusic Initiative last season at ECU. The sonification suits were purchased as part of a College of Fine Arts and Communication Research and Creative Activity Award and were used to generate the sound-score based on movement done by a professional dancer from Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. In other news, Darkenwald staged the opening and closing choreography for the BalaSole Dance Company performance Gamme at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre in New York City. This performance included recent ECU dance graduate Tyreel Simpson.

Catherine Gardner’s (voice) article “Pregnancy and the Singer” appeared in the May 28 edition of Classical Singer magazine.

Emanuel Gruber (cello) performed in Disney Hall in Los Angeles on June 22 and 24 with the FOOSA (Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy) Youth Symphony Orchestra. The cello section featured three faculty and 19 students. Gruber additionally participated in the Summit Music Festival in Purchase, N.Y. in July.

Christine Gustafson (flute) led four international exchange students from the School of Music to Taipei, Taiwan for the inaugural year of the ECU Summer Study Abroad Chamber Music Taiwan. From May 15 through June 8, students rehearsed, performed in masterclasses, took private lessons, attended a Chinese language and culture class, visited landmarks in Taipei and attended a baseball game in Taichung, Taiwan. Their stay culminated in a final gala performance including students and faculty on June 6, at the University of Taipei Recital Hall. The program is in partnership with the University of Taipei.

In May, Jill Matarelli Carlson (theatre) taught at the University of Michigan at the Society of American Fight Directors Fredrickson Intensive. She taught 10 hours each in Rapier & Dagger and Broadsword, plus a Laban for Actors masterclass. In June, she assisted Intimacy Directors International at a three-day workshop at Raleigh Little Theatre in Raleigh. She also taught an Unarmed workshop at the Burning Coal Theatre Company Summer Program in July. Additionally, she conducted a mock adjudication for stage combat students at Unto These Hills in Cherokee, N.C.

In May, Stephen Ivany (trombone) performed new commissions of music for horn and trombone at the International Women’s Brass Festival at Arizona State University. In June, he performed with the Southeast Trombone Symposium Professor’s Trombone Choir. This group included members of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and professors from the southeast region. Also in June, he performed multiple performances of Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Teatro Nuovo Orchestra in New York City. In July he performed in a faculty showcase recital at the International Trombone Festival in Muncie, Ind., and was a guest chamber coach at the Chautauqua School of Music in N.Y. Ivany was named “30 under 30" by the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company).

Michael Tierno (film and video production) shot a feature film, “Turn Back Night,” in Manhattan, featuring Chris Chirdon (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). The film will provide practice media for a book he’s completing for Routledge Press, entitled “Location and Post Production Sound for Filmmakers on a Budget.” The film launched a possible business called The New York Filmmakers Collective, through which low budget filmmakers can partake in New York State’s tax credit program. He also revised and resubmitted a book proposal for Bloomsbury Press entitled “Semiotics For Screenwriters.”

Heather Muise (printmaking) had work included in the collections of the China Printmaking Museum in Guangdong, China and the Bernard A. Zuckerman Museum of Art in Kennesaw, Ga. Additionally, her work was chosen for the “2019 Mid America Print Council Juried Members’ Exhibition,” which will be held at the University of Kentucky in October.

Lisa Beth Robinson (foundations) and collaborative partner Kristin Thielking hosted two interactive workshops at the Art and the Anthropocene conference in Dublin, Ireland, on June 7-9. The events explored how the integration of art and science can stimulate consciousness around the U.N. Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 and work toward shifting mindsets and behaviors. The workshops included in iteration of the art installation “Catching a Wave: A physical artifact of a frozen moment in time.” The exhibition juxtaposes the beauty of a glass wave with installation in a man-made environment to create a sense of reinvention and reconnection.

Aleks Romano (voice) performed the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Portland Opera (June 6-15) and with Chautauqua Opera (July 8-25). Also this summer, she performed the role debut as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking with OperaDelaware through May 7, performed in “Big Night Concert” with Portland Opera on May 11, and performed the role of Samira in Ghosts of Versailles with Chautauqua Opera on July 27.

COLLEGE OF HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE

HHP is launching its prevention science initiatives this academic year with a focus on disability and aging. Design for Disability will highlight four areas: research and innovation, training and education; product design; and inclusion and access. Join us for the Design for Disability Kickball Kick-off on September 30 in Minges Coliseum! Alumna Judy Bird ’72 will share her inspiration for developing a kickball for people with visual impairments and then, get ready to play!

The Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies is now Recreation Sciences. The update more accurately reflects the clinical and social science foundations of the department’s majors and research.

Dr. Melissa Cox was elected chair-elect for the Early Career Preventionist Network of the Society for Prevention Research. She’ll serve two years as chair-elect and then two years as chair. The ECPN chair role is a seat on the overall Board of Directors for the Society for Prevention Research.

Dr. Megan Janke, Associate Professor of Recreational Therapy in the Department of Recreation Sciences, has been designated as a Fellow of the National Academy of Recreational Therapists (NART).

Dr. Stacey Altman, Professor of Kinesiology, has been named Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Academic Affairs in HHP.

HONORS COLLEGE

Daniel Nance and Ananya Koripella completed the East Carolina Heart Institute Internship Program, an interactive and scientific summer program. Students are exposed to laboratory research methods and clinical procedures, as well as the ambience of an integrated cardiovascular disease program. For 6 weeks (full-time) student interns are immersed in daily clinical activities of cardiac surgeons and cardiologists, which include observing robotic cardiac surgical operations as well as cardiac catheterization procedures.

Dana Shefet attended the Yale University Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics. While there she wrote a research paper and made a poster presentation.

Tiffany Nguyen was selected as a Google Scholar in the Women Techmakers Scholar Program. She attended the Google Scholar Summit in Santa Clara, California in June. Read more HERE.

Andrew Lee has accepted an offer to extend his Red Hat internship until his graduation in December. Andrew will finish his marketing degree this fall (a semester early!) while still working at Red Hat in Raleigh.

Jocelyn Bayles was selected as the undergraduate winner for the Society for Nutrition Education & Behavior's Higher Education Division abstract competition. She was also invited to participate in SNEB's Nutrition Education for Children's Division poster presentation competition. As the only undergraduate selected, she was put in a category with masters students and won.

Madeline Tripp analyzed the impact of removing phosphorus and nitrogen from lake water using biochar during her LAKES REU at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Read more about her research HERE.

Freshmen in the Honors College volunteered with the Pitt County Council on Aging (COA) and C.M. Eppes Middle School during the Honors College Fall Day of Service.

Hannah Martin, one of the founding members and current president of Best Buddies ECU, represented ECU and the state of North Carolina at the Best Buddies International Leadership Conference.

INTEGRATED COASTAL PROGRAMS

Dr. Mike O’Driscoll (Department of Coastal Studies) has continued his research focused on coastal water resources. Some of his groundwater seep research was recently featured on the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute webpage and his coastal wastewater research was featured in Coastal Review Online. In addition, Dr. O'Driscoll's recent study, titled, "Coastal Tourism and Its Influence on Wastewater Nitrogen Loading: A Barrier Island Case Study," has been accepted for publication by Environmental Management. Dr. O'Driscoll will soon be starting a new project, titled, "Wastewater Infrastructure Tipping Points: Prioritizing Implementation of Climate Adaptation Plans in Decentralized Systems." This project is funded by a NOAA grant that Dr. O'Driscoll received in collaboration with colleagues from ECU, NC State, NC Sea Grant, and UGA. The research will help identify wastewater management approaches that can be suitable for vulnerable coastal communities and provide critical information for implementing climate adaptation plans for wastewater infrastructure.

Dr. Reide Corbett, Dean of Integrated Coastal Programs, is an invited member of the NC Climate Science Advisory Panel. As part of Governor Cooper’s Executive Order 80, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) is preparing a North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resiliency Plan to be submitted Spring 2020. Corbett will add to breadth of the report through his expertise on coastal change and sea level rise. This completed report will summarize the latest and best climate science information for North Carolina and will serve as input in the development of the risk assessment and resiliency plan for North Carolina. Information in the report will support cabinets, local governments and planners in understanding the climate information, risks and opportunities across our State.

Dr. Jake Hochard, Coastal Studies Research Scientist, recently authored a PNAS research paper. Hochard, with co-authors Stuart Hamilton and Edward Barbier, published findings that reveal the important storm protection services of mangrove forests. The paper published in the June issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show “that mangrove restoration efforts for protective benefits may be more cost effective, and mangrove deforestation more damaging, than previously thought”.

Dr. David Griffith, Chair, Department of Coastal Studies, recently authored several articles in the Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies and Dialectical Anthropology. The article, entitled, “The Value of Reproduction: Multiple Livelihoods, Cultural Labor, and Immigrants in Iowa and North Carolina," focuses on guest workers in the seafood processing industry, as well as ethnic entrepreneurs along the coastal plain. The article is part of a special collection that will come out as a volume from Routledge Press edited by Alejandro Portes and Patricia Fernandez-Kelly. The essay in Dialectical Anthropology, entitled, "Extreme Wage Labor," is part of a forum on temporary foreign labor programs around the world, which include the seafood processing workers and many types of tourist workers in coastal economies around the United States. The forum and the essay discuss the pros and cons on temporary foreign worker programs, contrasting them with undocumented labor migration, human trafficking, and attempting to recruit domestic workers by upgrading pay and benefit packages.

Check out the Integrated Coastal Program's Summer 2019 Newsletter! Included in this newsletter is information on new faculty hires, the new Director of the NC Renewable Ocean Energy Program, research focus on Currituck Sound, and information on the Spring 2020 Undergraduate Semester Experience at the Coast.

ACADEMIC LIBRARY SERVICES

Jan Lewis, Joyner’s director, was elected president-elect of Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL). She will serve as president beginning in June 2020.

Amanda McClellan is Joyner’s new assistant director for discovery and technology services. She will oversee Application & Digital Services, General Collections Cataloging, Special Collections Cataloging, ILS Services, and IT Operations. These tech-based departments are critical for ease of access and for maximizing student and faculty use of library resources.

Scholarly communication librarian Jeanne Hoover completed the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition’s (SPARC) Open Education Leadership Program. She was one of just 23 library professionals selected for the program. As an OER fellow, she worked to increase awareness of Joyner’s affordable textbook initiatives.

For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights opened in the Janice Hardison Faulkner Gallery on September 1. For more information about this NEH On the Road exhibit and complementary events and exhibits scheduled through October, please click HERE. The exhibit runs through October 20.

Join us for the first FaculTea of the academic year with Whichard Visiting Distinguished Professor, Dr. Kirstin Squint. Dr. Squint’s talk, “Interstate and Other Souths,” will focus on contemporary literary representations of the U.S. South as a multicultural space, with a particular focus on American Indian cultural production. This event is scheduled for September 24 at 3:30 p.m. in Joyner 2409.

Joyner is launching its first crowdfunding campaign this month through ECUFundIt. Equipping Students for Success will raise funds to purchase additional circulating equipment to assist students in their courses, including scientific calculators, video cameras and VR headsets.

On August 21, Joyner Library recognized 2018–2019 student winners of the W. Keats Sparrow Writing Award, the Senator Robert Morgan Papers Student Research Award, the Rhem/Schwarzmann Prize for recognition of student research, and the Marie and James Thompson Student Award recognizing Joyner student employees. Congratulations to the following recipients:

W. Keats Sparrow Writing Award

• Lillian Shannon, First Place
• Hannah Donahue, Second Place
• Dianna Pittman, Third Place

Rhem/Schwarzmann Prize

• Gina Adams, First Place
• Nathan Risk, Second Place
• Madeline Midyette, Third Place

Senator Robert Morgan Papers Student Research Award

• Tyler W. Kerby, Voting by Conscience

Marie and James Thompson Student Award

• Emilie Campese, Circulation
• Alexis Hollingshead, Teaching Resource Center
• Kristal McCalop, Administration
• Tess Will, Administration

GRANTS AND CONTRACTS

JULY 2019

Award Title: RCN-UBE Incubator: Using Citizen Science to Promote Research Experiences in Undergraduate Courses

Principal Investigator: Heather Vance-Chalcraft, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences

Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

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Award Title: Microbially Influenced Corrosion of WWII Aluminum Aircraft Wrecks in Saipan

Principal Investigator: Jennifer McKinnon, History, College of Arts & Sciences

Sponsor: National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT)

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Award Title: Underwater Investigations in Saipan

Principal Investigator: Jennifer McKinnon, History, College of Arts & Sciences

Sponsor: Henry M Jackson Foundation

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Award Title: Underwater investigation for uncorrelated B-17F crash site, likely associated with MACR 16058

Principal Investigator: Nathan Richards, History, College of Arts & Sciences

Sponsor: Henry M Jackson Foundation

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Award Title: Identifying the function of the Fibrin(ogen) alpha-C connector region

Principal Investigator: Nathan Hudson, Physics, College of Arts & Sciences

Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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Award Title: "Costs" of Transition for YWE from Pediatric to Adult Healthcare Settings

Principal Investigator: Aimee Smith, Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences

Sponsor: American Epilepsy Society (AES)

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Award Title: Development of a Game-supported Intervention to Improve Learning and Study Strategies among At-Risk Students

Principal Investigator: Brandon Schultz, Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences

Sponsor: DOED Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

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Award Title: Device Design and Robust Periodic Motion Control of an Ocean Kite for Hydrokinetic Energy Harvesting

Principal Investigator: Michael Muglia, Coastal Studies Institute

Sponsor: NCSU Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE)

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Award Title: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Principal Investigator: Paul Gemperline, Graduate School

Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

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Award Title: Considering Conspicuity for Department of Transportation Light Trucks

Principal Investigator: Brian Sylcott, Engineering, College of Engineering & Technology

Sponsor: North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)

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Award Title: Training and Case Studies for UAV-based LIDAR and Imaging Systems

Principal Investigator: Zhen Zhu, Engineering, College of Engineering & Technology

Sponsor: North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)

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Award Title: State of the Art Approaches to Bicycle and Pedestrian Counters

Principal Investigator: Gonzague Ozan, Technology Systems, College of Engineering & Technology

Sponsor: North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)

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Award Title: Wayne County Public Schools Support for Military Connected Schools and Students

Principal Investigator: Bethann Cole, Math, Science, and Instructional Technology, College of Education

Sponsor: Wayne County Schools

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Award Title: Identification of tobacco retailers in North Carolina in the absence of state licensing: Protocol and implementation

Principal Investigator: Joseph Lee, Health Education & Promotion, College of Health & Human Performance

Sponsor: North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS)

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Award Title: PREPare for Success 2019-2020

Principal Investigator: Michele Wallen, Health Education & Promotion, College of Health & Human Performance

Sponsor: NCDHHS Division of Public Health (DPH)

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Award Title: PREPare for Success 2019-2020

Principal Investigator: Michele Wallen, Health Education & Promotion, College of Health & Human Performance

Sponsor: NCDHHS Division of Public Health (DPH)

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Award Title: Project REACH for Adolescents 2019-2020

Principal Investigator: Michele Wallen, Health Education & Promotion, College of Health & Human Performance

Sponsor: NCDHHS Division of Public Health (DPH)