SEFLA SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS, LEADERSHIP AND AVIATION

Through a diverse collection of programs, the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Aviation (SEFLA) focuses on the intellectual development and academic preparation of leaders and professionals. Student-centric, highly-qualified faculty scholars are passionate about connecting and supporting students in their next career steps. Research efforts in SEFLA exemplify and support OSU’s land-grant mission by making an impact on education and the aviation industry.

FY2022 IN REVIEW

19 Proposals Submitted

$4,731,880

Amount of Proposals

Native American communities, storytelling and earth and space curriculum are coming together in one ambitious project made possible through a $3.3 million NASA cooperative agreement.

Dr. Kat Gardner-Vandy, aviation and space assistant professor in the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Aviation is the principal investigator for the Native Earth | Native Sky, which unites Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee Tribal Nations with OSU faculty to develop middle school STEM curriculum.

The project aims to capture Native American students’ curiosity and expand possibilities and frontiers in science and engineering fields. Lessons will be combined with art, culture and social studies to celebrate each nation’s unique heritage.

“Our goal is to work with individual nations and collaborate with them,” said Gardner-Vandy, who is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

“As a land-grant institution, we are here to serve Oklahoma’s communities, and what better way to do that than by collaborating with Oklahoma’s Native American nations in celebration of the earth and space.”

5 New Awards

$2,002,026

Amount of all Awards

The program collaborates with OSU’s Center for Sovereign Nations as well as with researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Smithsonian Institution.

The Department of Human Development and Family Science focuses on the development of people across the life-span and strengthening human relationships. Faculty, students and graduates are caring, committed professionals with a passion for serving others. Through intentional research and service, we improve quality of life and equip students with the knowledge and skills to do the same.

The Center for Immigrant Health and Education was created to assist immigrants from all countries in adjusting to a life in a new place.

Research aims to better understand the risk and resilience development immigrant children, youth and families and to translate findings into effective interventions, inform policy decisions at state and federal levels and train the next generation of scholars dedicated to immigrant health and education.

“The Center for Immigrant Health and Education brings together top scholars in the field to discover factors leading to an enhanced quality of life for immigrant families, to elaborate effective psychosocial interventions and to prepare the next generation of scholars dedicated to immigrant health and education,” Cox said.

The Center works to preserve and learn about the culture of the immigrant children who are born between two worlds, Cox said. Researchers are also exploring the extent that Shared Language Erosion affects parent-child relationships as well as child health and educational outcomes.

The Center helps families by providing resources they need to become successful in a new country, including support for those who want to obtain their GED or improve their English skills, and in understanding how to apply their skills to the United States job market and finding jobs they are prepared for.

FY2022 IN REVIEW

28 Proposals Submitted

$5,606,228

Amount of Proposals

19 New Awards

$2,220,064

Amount of all Awards

Academic programs in the School of Kinesiology, Applied Health and Recreation (KAHR) include applied exercise science, health and human performance, leisure studies, recreation and athletic management and recreational therapy. KAHR provides a distinctive learning experience with a focus on hands-on learning and mentorship, preparing graduates to successfully enter into the health and exercise profession or pursue graduate or professional school. Our faculty’s research aims to improve physical health and improve quality of life.

11 Proposals Submitted

$665,822 Amount of Proposals

3 New Awards

$240,009 Amount of all Awards

A new research partnership with the School of Kinesiology, Applied Health and Recreation is poised to help push the Cowboy and Cowgirl teams to the next level. The OSU Golf Research, Innovation and Performance Center (OSU GRIP) conducts cutting-edge research working with elite golfers in Stillwater.

“There is nothing else like this in the country,” said Dr. Doug Smith, OSU GRIP Center director. “OSU is going to have the first golfspecific institute doing research to ensure the players at OSU are ready and confident when they go onto the course.”

The academic-athletic partnership allows educators like Smith to collect data, analyze it and present it in a learnable way. Smith is working with Jonathan Moore, OSU golf strength and conditioning coach, and using the data to create custom programs for the individual men’s and women’s golfer. Players go through 15 or more tests, everything from generic height, weight and mobility to more specific grip strength plus horizontal and vertical power. The pair specifically looked at the science behind improving club head speed to start.

The partnership has taken a long-game approach, and the unique collaboration places OSU at the forefront of data-based collection and research in the sport of golf.

The Department of Nutritional Sciences (NSCI) offers exceptional preparation for a variety of careers in the healthcare field. Award-winning professors are accessible and committed to student success, demonstrated by a high rate of acceptance to graduate and professional schools. NSCI provides the highest quality educational experience through integrated, practical and evidence-based learning that inspires confident professionals. Areas of research emphasis include Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, Human Clinical Nutrition and Community and Public Health Nutrition with a focus on health, wellness and disease prevention through food and nutrition.

Nutritional Sciences assistant professor Jill Joyce and her student team are helping local firefighters change their diet to fight heart disease and improve overall health.

Leading personal health problems for firefighters include being overweight and obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“So something’s got to be going on with their nutrition,” Joyce said

Joyce asked local firefighters to take pictures of the station kitchens to get an idea of their food environment and worked with several students using a tool called Photovoice to help assess the environment, as well.

“There’s a lot of refined grains, added sugar, sugar sweetened beverages, different kinds of sweets, fried foods, foods high in sodium. It’s your typical snack/ dessert type foods,” Joyce said.

The project members delivered healthier options to the four Stillwater Fire Department stations, and intentionally placed unhealthy options in non-visible areas rather than taking them away. They logged what foods were consumed and how the firefighters responded, and also also used a psychological tool called behavioral economics to assist in the study.

FY2022 IN REVIEW

32 Proposals Submitted 6 New Awards

$7,521,837

Amount of Proposals

$4,149,918

Amount of all Awards

The overall goal was to make the healthier foods more normal, attractive and convenient to the firefighters. Over the course of the spring, the students said they began to see a change in the firefighters while also learning some crucial realworld experience for the nutritional field.

Eating healthier can not only stop the risk for heart disease, but also cancer, which has a high rate among firefighters.

“It’s crazy how that’s literally all I’m doing is dropping off food. But the air has just changed,” Joyce said. “Their health culture has changed. They’re thinking healthy.”