PROVOST DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR AWARDS

The Provost Distinguished Scholar Award was developed to further the building of a community of scholars at Cal Lutheran. Each year the award is granted to two faculty members, one undergraduate faculty and one graduate faculty, who have demonstrated significant achievement in research or creative work. The Faculty Awards Committee receives nominations and selects the award winners. The award is funded by a gift from the estate of Pamela M. Jolicoeur, who was provost at Cal Lutheran from 1993 to 2004.

Kirstie Hettinga, PhD

Associate Professor, Communication

Kirstie Hettinga’s research is closely entwined with her teaching and her work as the faculty adviser for Cal Lutheran’s student newspaper, The Echo. In recent years, she has done extensive research on the formation of communities of practice in student newsrooms, the role of accuracy in student media, and, notably, the development of Spanish-language student media. Since joining Cal Lutheran in 2013, she has published 14 peer-reviewed articles and five conference proceedings, and has presented research 18 times at national and international conferences. Hettinga works with students on their own independent research related to her areas of interest. She has mentored multiple students on research related to news media retractions, newspaper corrections, and a change in editing structures at The New York Times. Her students have presented their papers at national conferences and had their research accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Hettinga’s 2018 paper presentation “Errors and corrections in digital news content,” with Alyssa Appelman, PhD, was recognized at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference with the Open Competition Award (second place) in the Mass Communication and Society Division, one of the largest divisions in AEJMC.

Recently, she received the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for her work in facilitating a collaboration between the Communication and Languages and Cultures Departments to develop and implement a Spanish media minor. This new minor is a multilingual, diverse program that will position Cal Lutheran students to succeed in a global society.

Dan Tillapaugh, PhD

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education

Dan Tillapaugh is chair of the Department of Counselor Education in the Graduate School of Education. He has been recognized as an Emerging Scholar by ACPA — College Student Educators International for his research, which focuses largely on the intersections of gender and sexuality in college student development. Since publication of his book Men and Masculinities: Theoretical Foundations and Promising Practices for Supporting College Men’s Development, he has given invited presentations at Duke University and Tulane University.

“My desire as a scholar is to engage in research and scholarship that actually has a direct impact on making positive change in higher education and student affairs, and drives new conversations in the field,” said Tillapaugh. “I am intentional about presenting my research at scholarly conferences, but also ones geared towards practitioners. This is inherently important to me because I do not want to present in a vacuum or a void.”

Graduate School of Education Dean Michael Hillis writes, “So often scholars in academia can be seen as ‘out of touch’ and ‘disengaged’ with the general public. Yet what Dr. Tillapaugh is attesting to is that his work is based on engagement, giving voice to others, and improving the lives of so many around him. A laudable effort indeed.” Hillis adds that Tillapaugh not only “sets the bar for his colleagues within the GSOE, but he is also a model for the entire campus of an active, engaged and professionally recognized scholar.”