Smith Institute, the periodical Issue 3

In this Issue Community Action Research Partnerships: The Indaba Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship: Applying Narrative Transforms Lives Business Analytics Applied through Data Mining for the Soul of the Northwest Corridor The Innovo Business Incubator: Sophisticated Approaches; Complex Challenges Environmental Justice Agenda

Applied Research Smith Institute Volume One Number Three

Fall 2012

“Blue Ocean Thinking” for the Soul of the Community: Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor

From My View The view from my office window offers a panorama of the city from the highest point in town. The symbolism moves me. We strive to bring the highest opportunities for development to our University, to the Soul of our neighboring Northwest Corridor, and to Charlotte - true Blue Ocean* opportunities for change, and to pursue solutions and new directions for the most vexing problems we share.

Through a number of initiatives, infused with social action research, we sit down with our neighbors, as a community in the African tradition, to transform and weave a community fabric and quality of life that makes us all deeply attached to this place we call home. The “Indaba”** process is essential to our shared destiny.

This issue of Smith Institute describes not only the view from my window, but the great Indaba opportunity and the spirit of seeking the highest ground that we share. We must prepare our students to become active servant leaders who skillfully grasp the tools of participatory action research.

From my view, new construction continues on Mosaic Village on Beatties Ford Road and on the Davis House renovation, which will provide a place for our social work faculty, students and the community’s very important mission on behalf of students aging out of foster care.

Two early career researchers, Cory Carter and Michael McAllister, have founded Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship, which, in conjunction with Project L.I.F.T., promises brightened life narratives for the community’s most vulnerable young men.

We are utilizing applied research capabilities to introduce students to complex analysis and information gathering capabilities. Under the leadership of Ron Stodghill and Keisha Talbot Johnson we have launched Innovo Laboratory to boldly bring issues that have held back minority business development in Charlotte to the forefront of the conversation. We are also applying business analytics, generally reserved to corporate environments, to successful data mining for community-based issues and concerns.

Along with our faculty, students, and community partners, we invite you to join us and engage in uncontested Blue Ocean opportunities, generated from our University’s unique view. We have founded a series of JCSU Northwest Corridor White Papers, published to capture and share applied research findings that can elucidate understanding, growth and development for the Soul of Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor.

From my view, this work forms a critical community-university action research partnership.

Ronald Carter, Ph.D. President, Johnson C. Smith University * Blue Ocean Strategy was authored and developed by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. It presents their ground-breaking thesis on “how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant,” published

by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation in Boston MA, 2005. ** Great sitting down together, traditional to communities in South Africa.

Pictured: JCSU President Ronald L. Carter uses applied research to ignite a transformative path for Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor, ultimately providing a theory of change for the City of Charlotte.

Middle, Cranes over Mosaic Village. Bottom, Dr. Carter hosts an Indaba at JCSU. Fall 2012

Read more online at SmithInstitute.JCSU.edu

Ronald L. Carter, Ph.D.

Publication Contents

Volume One, Number Three , Fall 2012 Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor through an Applied Research Lens Digging Deep into the Soul: Data Mining for Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Go Innovo! JCSU Small Business Incubator brings Research Savvy to Minority Entrepreneurs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Greening the Soul of the Community through Environmental Justice Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Financial Literacy among Residents of Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Activating a Logic Model: Three Questions for the JCSU Foster Care Initiative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Diane Bowles, Ph.D.

An Overview of Undergraduate Applied Research at Johnson C. Smith University I recently became an elected Councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research, providing me with an opportunity to reflect on the discipline. Since the beginning of the decade, undergraduate research has taken on a number of forms and priorities. Today, an overview of the field reveals intense research at large and small colleges and universities, across varied disciplines. This growing diversity in the undergraduate arena certainly informs my work and direction at JCSU. We struggle, as many small colleges with a historical emphasis on teaching struggle, to transform our culture to include meaningful professional research options for faculty and students. At JCSU we aspire to achieve best practices for introducing and sustaining applied research to undergraduate researchers, their faculty mentors, instructors and community partners.

This issue of Smith Institute features some of our most exciting applied research initiatives. For instance, STEM faculty member Alexa Rosypal, Ph.D. has successfully prepared a new cohort of student researchers as co-authors who will publish in the peer-reviewed Journal of Parasitology.

Our Centers of Excellence are developing outstanding community partnerships in action research, and our Multidisciplinary Applied Computational Modeling and Simulations (MACMAS) Lab, facilitated

by Connie Van Brunt, is helping produce undergraduate computational researchers who are competitive in world-class arenas.

At JCSU, we have come a long way on our applied research agenda. We are trendsetters for future cohorts on the leading edge of undergraduate research.

We welcome participation and collaboration of fellow researchers from across the region, nation, and globe.

Diane Bowles, Ph.D. Vice President of Government Sponsored Programs and Research Executive Director, Smith Institute for Applied Research Fall 2012

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A Web of Narratives Strengthened through Participatory Action Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 New Horizons JCSU STEM Garners Unprecedented Duke Endowment Gift and Gold Standard Research Opportunities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Moving to the Blue Ocean Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Advancing Applied Research Parasitology and Food Safety: JCSU Faculty Alexa C. Rosypal, Ph.D. hones Student Level Research and Scholarly Publication Skills. . . . . . . . 15 Searching for a Cure: Computational Modeling for Sickle Cell Molecule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Briefs on Centers of Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Smith Institute for Applied Research on the Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 On the Cover Research essential to environmental justice is conducted by Darrica Byrd, ‘14 who tests air quality in the neighborhoods surrounding JCSU under the mentorship of Professor Jonathan Pullin.

“Blue Ocean Thinking” from Blue Ocean Strategy was authored and developed by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.

Web Exclusives Continue the conversation in the digital realm on Facebook [Smith Institute @ JCSU] and Twitter [@SmithInstitute]. Also, join us on the web [SmithInstitute.JCSU.edu] for a community leadership blog by Sherrill Hampton, and find further details on applied research projects.

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Northwest Corridor Initiatives

Digging Deep into the Soul Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor Data Analyzed through Data Mining

By Professor Awatif Amin, JCSU STEM College with Philip A. Henry, ’15 and Randale Watson, ’14 Data mining involves the use of data analysis tools to discover unknown patterns and relationships in datasets. While this research method has been most prevalent in business analytics, helping companies focus on powerful information in their data warehouses, open-source access to the technology makes data mining highly suitable for community-based inquiry as well.

Through data mining, JCSU faculty help students learn to determine the value and significance of patterns and relationships within datasets and to extract results. Students involved in this work gain skills and experience, making them more marketable as they enter the workforce or apply for graduate school.

Skills in data mining can produce students who are able to take on leadership roles, solve problems and create effective policy on a community level. This is the perspective that my students and I brought to a penetrating question about the perceived importance of education through the Northwest Corridor’s community resident lens.

In business analytics applications, data mining is used to quickly answer questions, identify trends and make accurate predictions. Could using data mining methods, searching the extensive and valuable Knight-Gallup Soul of the Community database, excavate hidden patterns that traditional statistical expertise may have missed?

An initial statistical analysis of Northwest Corridor survey respondents seemed to indicate that the quality of education was not a key driver for attachment to place.* However, because attachment to place is a strong predictor variable for successful and sustained community development and revitalization, this finding raised numerous questions. During a series of JCSU Community Forums, called “Indaba”, community residents expressed concern for educational quality of local schools.

Continued on page 20

* Attachment to place is a primary driver of successful community development.

Associate Professor Awatif Amin and her Summer Research Interns, Philip Henry and Randale Watson conducted applied research through data mining to examine the Knight Foundation/ Gallup Organization dataset, examining the Soul of the Northwest Corridor Community.

Pictured: (L-r) Philip Henry, Awatif Amin, and Randale Watson pictured in front of Northwest School of the Arts, one of the focal points for community educational concerns.

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( ) Process for Launching Applied Research Data Mining Initiative

Smith Institute is a publication of Smith Institute for Applied Research at Johnson C. Smith University

Given the high-level of community concern voiced for the quality of Northwest Corridor education during the Indaba forums, this research project was formulated and a request for funding support was submitted to Smith Institute for Applied Research

by Professor Awatif Amin. JCSU students, Philip A. Henry, ’15 and Randale Watson, ’14 were awarded Presidential Priority Summer Research Fellowships to work with Professor Amin and learn the technology and methodology for data mining to better address the community’s concerns. These research awards support President Ronald L. Carter’s commitment to developing and sustaining the highest level of excellence among student and faculty scholars, and investigating community-based research questions and issues. In President Carter’s view, the University is tasked with developing the type of scholars and policy recommendations well-suited for addressing community concerns; with education resources being high on the inquiry agenda.

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Northwest Corridor Initiatives

Go Innovo!

JCSU Business Incubator Brings Research Savvy Facts, Not Fiction, to Charlotte’s Minority Entrepreneurs

By Ron Stodghill, Director of Smith Institute’s Center of Excellence in Diversity, Workforce and Small Business Development and Director of Innovo Laboratory In September of 2010, Johnson C. Smith University published a white paper* which identified the hurdles facing African American business owners in Charlotte. The study revealed myriad challenges, from a lack of access to capital to misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding Black businesses.

Even more, the study proposed a range of prescriptive tools and resources necessary to overcome those challenges. In essence, the JCSU White Paper cast a harsh light on Charlotte’s business community, showing a playing field that was anything but level.

The applied analysis also served to validate widespread beliefs within Charlotte’s Black community about the city’s business culture, many of which had stirred controversy in my column at the Charlotte Observer. Having spent my career covering business for such publications as the New York Times, Time magazine, and Business Week, it was clear to me that Charlotte’s image as a burgeoning mecca of New South multiculturalism was, in matters of business, mostly fiction.

Creating a Level Playing Field

The disparities between the experiences of local Black and White business owners led me to publish a series that sparked much needed dialogue among Charlotte’s business and political leaders.

In 2011, I joined the staff at JCSU with plans to push the dialogue from abstract to prescriptive. I teamed up with Smith Institute colleague Keisha Talbot Johnson, a 2012 MBA from Queens University of Charlotte, and we spent hours discussing what ails our business community. Many questions arose: How can we help businesses access capital? What can be done to address the need for training and mentorship? How do we create dialogue across socioeconomic lines? Perhaps the most significant question we discussed for JCSU: Can Charlotte’s successful entrepreneurs become change agents toward improving student-level retention, graduation rates, confidence, and success?

From those discussions and a desire to support Charlotte’s minority-owned businesses, Innovo Laboratory was born.

Launched in April 2012, Innovo is a small business incubator and think tank located in Charlotte’s central business district with a powerful applied mission: to break away from traditional HBCU classroom business instruction and connect students to “real life” working entrepreneurs. To that end, Innovo has partnered with the global consultancy, Blue Ocean Strategy, a thought-leader in innovative business practices.

Incubating Strong Minority Business Start-ups

While still developing, in November 2011, Innovo hosted the White House summit on entrepreneurship. In April 2012, at the Innovo launch event, we launched our leadership development video series, featuring such leaders as Hugh McColl, entrepreneur and former CEO of Bank of America, Pat Rodgers, owner of Rodgers Builders, and Harvey Gantt, Architect, entrepreneur, and Charlotte’s first African American Mayor. I also spoke at a White House panel on entrepreneurial programs at HBCUs and minorityserving institutions.

We’ve begun our heaviest lifting in collaboration with Smith Institute’s MACMAS Lab, whose facilitator, applied researcher Connie Van Brunt, adapted a survey instrument that will provide us with data about Charlotte’s Black businesses that does not currently exist. The company survey results will provide such critical data as number of employees, annual revenue, and business sectors in the Northwest Corridor.

As we collect these data, we are fortunate that there’s a swelling interest from outside of the corridor to participate in the revitalization. JCSU is taking advantage of such interests.

Through Innovo, Smith Institute is fulfilling its applied research mission to address some of the important economic and cultural problems of our time.

* Ahmed, Haseeb J., Desai, Nick, Fox, Linette, Horton, Michelle. (2010). Gaining Traction in Doing Business in Charlotte, North Carolina: Compelling Reasons for Community Wide Support for Minority Owned Businesses.

Pictured: The Innovo team provides a fact-based research engine for change among Charlotte’s minority entrepreneurs. The team is shown at Innovo’s location in Uptown Charlotte’s Packard Place. (L-r) Ron Stodghill, the program’s director and founder and Director of the Center of Excellence in Diversity, Workforce and Small Business Development within Smith Institute for Applied Research; Umuhire “Liliane” Ntabana, ‘15; Charlton D. Hunley, an attorney and community supporter; Keisha Talbot Johnson, co-founder of Innovo who is also responsible for Smith Institute’s communications; and Shakira Clarke, ‘14.

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Within Smith Institute for Applied Research

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Northwest Corridor Initiatives

Greening the Soul

Researching Air Quality for Environmental Justice in Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor

By Jonathan Pullin, JCSU and Cindy Hauser, Davidson College with Darrica Byrd, ‘14 Johnson C. Smith University is creating a wave of Blue Ocean thinking in Charlotte, through its air quality research in the Northwest Corridor. This analytical framework will provide a fundamental understanding of how vehicular emissions directly impact Northwest Corridor residents, which can improve planning and policy outcomes on behalf of residents’ health and well-being, fundamental concerns for applied research in environmental justice.

High Rate of Health Risks within the Region

Scientific studies have revealed that vehicular emissions such as nitrogen oxides and ozone are correlated with a decrease in lung function and increased susceptibility to lung infection in healthy and at-risk populations.

Nitric oxide chemically reacts with oxidizing agents in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide.

Nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2) contribute to the formation of ozone and other secondary organic pollutants, which creates photochemical smog.

This primarily occurs during the afternoon hours on a typical summer day. As these pollutants react with the products of fossil fuel combustion, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and sunlight, air quality becomes more “chemically” complex and unhealthy for breathing.

In 2011, the Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury region was ranked 10th among the most polluted cities by ozone in the United States. Rowan County was ranked 17th, and Mecklenburg County was ranked 21st for most polluted counties by ozone.

Research Design

Research sites for this project are located in the Northwest Corridor residential communities of Lincoln Heights and Wesley Heights. These communities are adjacent to major Interstate Highway I-85 and associated traffic intersections.

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Environmental justice is a growing concern among residents of Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor. In addition to the air-quality studies, JCSU is working with residents to “mitigate the effects of living in a ‘ food desert’, with no full-service food stores selling fresh produce, dairy products, or non-processed meats,” according to a report from the Duke Endowment Sustainability Summit, held on the JCSU campus, March 28-29, 2012.

The Wesley Heights testing site is near an elementary school. The inter-urban variations of NO2 concentrations include the following: traffic density, distance to major roads, the presence of major industries and total population. Rijinders (2001) found a correlation between NO2 concentrations, urbanization and traffic density.

Air quality data in the Northwest Corridor, as it relates to Nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2) and ozone, does not exist. The Northwest Corridor offers an untapped and high need market for air-quality research as it holds important implications for residents, especially for children and seniors.

This applied research project seeks to include Intellectual and Emotional Recognition in our research process. Interacting with local residents allows our researchers to gain important data from households related to health disparities and the incidence of decreased lung function among children and the elderly. This newly applied analytical framework will provide a fundamental understanding of how vehicular emissions directly impact the residents of the Northwest Corridor.

As scientific research continues to become more competitive, Johnson C. Smith University is creating its Blue Ocean of applied research resources, supporting a positive future for the Soul of the Community.

Pictured: JCSU Adjunct Faculty Jonathan Pullin and research intern, Darrica Byrd, ’14, use applied research to foster environmental justice with their first study of air quality in the Beatties Ford Northwest Corridor community.

Environmental justice is the central theme of their Smith Institute pilot research grant, which will be featured in a 2013 Northwest Corridor White Paper Series.

For information that informs Professor Pullin’s work, please visit SmithInstitute.JCSU.edu.

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Northwest Corridor Initiatives

Financial Literacy among Residents of Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor

By Dezette C. Johnson, Ph.D. Historically, social workers have been champions for the poor, committed to helping the impoverished make a better life for their families. However, little applied research has been conducted on the topic of monetary practices of low-income family structures.

Financial Social Work offers a multidisciplinary approach that helps individuals and families acquire knowledge about a variety of money management topics and refine money management skills.* It is essential for social scientists to study the monetary practices within families, with particular attention on vulnerable populations, to advance economic stability and financial wellness of individuals, families, and communities.

With this in mind, a mixed-methods research project was designed for the summer 2012 Smith Institute pilot studies, to increase understanding of the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions regarding current money practices among the residents of Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor.

Funded by the Smith Institute for Applied Research, the study design addresses the following comparative inquiries: - Are persons who were economically socialized from their family of origin more prepared to practice financial principals and prepare for long-term financial success than persons who were not economically socialized within their family of origin?

- Does family structure impact the financial dynamics of the family?

- Are persons who have a good understanding of their financial literacy in a better financial situation than persons who do not have a good understanding of financial literacy?

Results of this study will serve as a platform to help Northwest Corridor residents and business owners build wealth, both individually and as a community, specifically through assetbuilding, developing financial security programs and saving plans, and reducing debt. * Center for Financial Social Work, Inc. 2012 Pictured: In the Soul of Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor, monetary practices may be a key predictor variable for positive community development. Shown above are JSCU Metropolitan College students (l-r) Howard Estell, IV, Nikefa SalterGrayson, Karla Hutchinson and Natasha Harley.

Editor’s Note: This year, Smith Institute for Applied Research funded two studies, examining aspects of financial life in Charlotte’s Northwest Corridor. Both studies will appear in the 2012 White Paper Series scheduled for publication in November, 2012.

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Activating a Logic Model Three Questions about the JCSU Foster Care Initiative As Dean for the College of Professional Studies, Dr. Helen Caldwell addresses one of President Carter’s greatest passions: supporting youth aging out of foster care. Smith Institute discussed with Dr. Caldwell this important project, based upon the logic model that has been created for assessing the initiative’s progress.

SI

How is JCSU uniquely prepared to support foster youth?

Dr. Caldwell Yes, I have held a variety of positions at

JCSU, but the Foster Care (FC) Initiative speaks to me personally as well as through my discipline. I have always had concerns about the disadvantaged and those who do not have a “voice” to advocate for them. I am amazed by the heightened community support around the JCSU FC Initiative.

It’s certainly not a new conversation, but people say “Oh, I never thought about what happens to youth when they age out.”

Dr. Caldwell JCSU, in its institutional fiber, has a

SI

history of developing young minds and a “sense of self.” The institution provides a climate of family with small classes and familiarity among students and faculty.

Student and alumni pride add to the sense of belonging and satisfaction derived from identifying with JCSU. Due to JCSU’s size, student needs can be identified to offer the appropriate assistance. Additionally, we provide support such as a Foster Care Coordinator, Career Services office, and case-by-case planning for yearround housing.

Your roots are in social work, but you have been at the University for quite a while.

What particularly excites you about the Foster Care Initiative?

SI

What is the minimum that community members should know about foster care?

Dr. Caldwell These are young people who are a part of

our society; they are not going away. As with all of us, we did not have a choice of the families we were born into. However, we are all here together and each of us deserves a fair and equal opportunity to live a quality life.

Pictured: A logic model drives the theory of change for JCSU’s Foster Care Initiative. (L-r) Pat Newell, Dr. Helen Caldwell, and Lisa Crenshaw.

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Northwest Corridor Initiatives

Narrative Web Strengthened through Participatory Action

Birth of the Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship Concept

By Cory D. Carter, Director, Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship and Early Career Researcher The concept for Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship was born through adversity, out of my life story. That may be one reason the youth I speak to see how Charlotte’s Web can change their lives.

I admit being somewhat surprised to learn that I was engaging in “participatory action research,” a method that requires you to be a part of the things you want to change. The birth of the initiative came as I grew to express my own story. With determination and support, I have shaped and reshaped my narrative. Computer engineering and self-reflection have been my constant companions. The goal is to help young men like me reflect and shape their own lives, with technology as a reliable partner and guide.

My narrative begins the day I was placed in the foster care system, the day I was born.

Unfortunately my struggle is shared by too many young men of color. I cannot recount exactly how many foster care homes I’ve lived in, but since I have been old enough to remember, there was never one place for me to truly call home.

Somewhere among the places that I never really called home, I found something important. I found my voice, my focus, and my life interest. Through research, I built my own Internal Working Model (IWM) that supported my success. This is the theory of change we incorporate in Charlotte’s Web. We empower our participants so that they can build strong IWMs for themselves.

Continued on page 21 Pictured: Narrative method yields powerful theory of change for Charlotte’s Web director, Cory Carter.

Editor’s Note: Charlotte’s Web is housed in the Biddle Institute of the JCSU Metropolitan College, with its evaluative outcome analysis in conjunction with Smith Institute for Applied Research. It was initially housed within Smith Institute for Applied Research due to the initiative’s strong participatory action research roots, which utilize Narrative as a primary methodology. Male students in grades 9-12 from West Charlotte High School , a part of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in NC, make up the first cohort of program participants.

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“My narrative helps me bring deep understanding of the struggles our students face and how to help them succeed. ” -Michael B. McAllister

My Narrative: A Personal Account of Overcoming Struggle and the Reasons for Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship

By Michael B. McAllister, Co-Director of Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship and Early Career Researcher I was born deaf and was given a hearing aid, but it did not help much, which caused me to struggle in school. I was a young, atrisk student. When I was in middle school, Mom told me stories about my early years. In that way, she began to influence my personal narrative. I rarely responded to her.

At the age of 5, I received a cochlear implant, which made a big impact and improved my quality of life. With the implant, I could participate more confidently at school. I still struggled through elementary school, but my mother remained faithful to me. She believed in me. When your narrative places you at-risk, having someone believe in you makes a vital difference. That is one of the things that we have built into Charlotte’s Web: each participant will understand that we absolutely believe in them and their ability to make progress. Belief is powerful. It can change the path of an individual’s life, no matter how difficult that path becomes.

As I struggled in school, for example, it was difficult to make friends. The stumbling block was communication. To make this easier, I learned cued speech, which is vaguely similar to sign language. I remained in special education classes until fifth grade, when for the first time, I managed to bring home mostly B’s. I was encouraged by support from my family that helped me keep pushing through all sorts of challenges.

Boys need support from male role models. Support from both of my grandfathers helped me see the type of man I could grow up to be, to see my own possibilities. By the time I entered sixth grade, I was sent back to special education classes because my special education teacher from fifth grade was concerned with my learning progress. I took it as an opportunity to start over

Continued on page 21

Pictured: Overcoming struggle provides participatory action research pathway to success for Charlotte’s Web co-director, Michael McAllister.

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JCSU STEM Garners Unprecedented Duke Endowment Gift An award of $35 million from The Duke Endowment demonstrates concrete recognition for leadership in academic achievement JCSU has earned in STEM. Even though there is an emphasis on retaining STEM students, national figures for retention and matriculation of underrepresented STEM students hovers around 14 percent. Yet JCSU’s STEM retention hovers between mid-70 to mid80 percent, as tracked for three consecutive years by the University’s Office of Institutional Research.

Generating a highly STEM-fluent population is a goal of the nation’s elected and corporate leadership. Therefore, President Carter’s emphasis on the University’s growing success in STEM performance helped earn unprecedented generosity from The Duke Endowment, whose leadership gift is being utilized to construct a state-of-the-art STEM facility, depicted in the drawings below. “It will be one of the best STEM facilities in the nation,” Carter predicts.

Dean of STEM College and Chair of the JCSU Council of Deans, Magdy Attia, Ph.D., observes that the JCSU STEM thrust is driven by the strong and growing needs of the American and international market place. Attia explains that the JCSU STEM Center and curriculum are going in the “right direction” to meet the needs of the world marketplace. “Our students will be well-polished, innovative, independent learners,” Attia adds, asserting that a nation-wide transformation of STEM learning is required. “Transforming STEM is no less important than putting a man on the moon,” he says, further explaining that “innovation starts with critical thinking practiced and mastered thought experiments. This leads to solving problems in science, technology, engineering and mathematics today and in the future.”

Pictured: Rendering of JCSU’s STEM Atrium provided by Gantt Huberman Architects.

The Duke Endowment gift includes $25 million restricted to the design and construction of the new STEM facility and an additional $10 million for campus dorm renovations and student scholarships.

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Moving to the Blue Ocean Strategy

By Elfred A. Pinkard, Ed.D. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Last Fall, we informed the University community that Johnson C. Smith University had been selected by the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) to participate in an innovative proof of concept project that would employ the Blue Ocean Strategy principles to examine retention and graduation rates and develop a pragmatic strategy for dramatically increasing those rates at the University.

Elfred A. Pinkard, Ed.D.

In the minds of the public, prospective students and their parents, donors and public officials, retention and graduation rates are currently two of the most readily identified measures of institutional quality and effectiveness. The success of Blue Ocean Strategy engagement here at JCSU has the potential to significantly position the University as legitimately one of the nation’s high performing universities.

During the Fall semester (October 11-14, 2011), consultants from the Grace Consulting Group visited campus, collected information, and met with faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees and members of the community to support a comprehensive assessment of past and current retention and graduation rates.

What resulted from this early work was the Blue Ocean Strategy Assessment Report, which was presented to the JCSU Board of Trustees at the January 2012 meeting.

The report also included a proposal for Phase 2 of a Blue Ocean Strategy engagement with the University and an attendant budget.

Thanks to the generous support of the Duke Endowment, the Blue Ocean Strategy Engagement has been funded and will begin in earnest at the beginning of the 2012-2013 academic year.

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( ) Advancing Applied Research through Pilot Studies

Applied Research can only be taught and learned in hands-on or case study settings.

For that reason, Smith Institute offers exploratory pilot grant funds for faculty-mentored student-level applied research.

Parasitology and Food Safety JCSU Faculty Alexa C. Rosypal, Ph.D. and her research interns’ paper, Serological Survey of Dogs from Egypt for Antibodies to Leishmania Species, was recently accepted by the prestigious Journal of Parasitology.

Anticipated Impacts: -Improve our understanding of parasitic diseases with implications for food safety -Provide faculty-mentored research experience for JCSU undergraduate students -Enhance applied research skills and confidence among student researchers -Prepare students for graduate or professional school

Food safety research involves identifying and preventing exposure to infectious organisms which threaten the reliability of the food chain supply by either reducing sources of food or causing food-borne diseases. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for protecting the US food supply.

Implications for National Food Security

Toxoplasmosis is a food-borne disease that is acquired by ingestion of infected meat or contaminated water and produce. Trichomonas gallinae is a parasite of birds that causes avian trichomoniasis in domestic poultry and raptors. Avian trichomoniasis contributes to decreased meat and egg production, as well as death in birds. A better understanding of these diseases in birds could improve security of the US food supply chain. The goal of Dr. Rosypal’s work is to generate data on toxoplasmosis and avian trichomoniasis levels in wild birds from North Carolina, which could ultimately improve prevention of these parasitic diseases.

Toxoplasma gondii is a food-borne parasite that poses a significant public health threat because it is transmitted by ingestion of infected meat and contaminated food or drink.

Toxoplasmosis can be fatal in humans. Dr. Rosypal and her JCSU student research team use molecular and histological methods to identify Toxoplasma infections in birds of prey from North Carolina

JCSU Students on Collaborating Parasitology Research Teams

JCSU students Shañae Bowman, ’13 and Sam Epps, ’13 are gaining applied experience in a biological laboratory setting.

As part of a parasitology research team, they are performing DNA extractions on avian muscle tissues for polymerase chain reactions to diagnose Toxoplasma infections. With help from Dr. David Lindsay at Virginia Tech, the students learned to analyze their data, to determine the prevalence of Toxoplasma in raptors and compare their results to

Continued on page 21

Pictured: JCSU students gain experience in parasitology research and they learn to write well, co-authoring articles for scholarly publication during their Smith Institute-funded internships with Dr. Alexa C. Rosypal. (L-r) Samuel Epps, III, Shañae Bowman, and Dr. Alexa Rosypal.

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Searching for a Cure: Computational Modeling for Sickle Cell Molecule

By Timothy D. Champion, Ph.D., Chair, JCSU Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics How can a better treatment for sickle cell anemia be designed?

At JCSU, we are working on this problem using highpowered computing and the expertise of scientists from different disciplines.

Sickle-cell anemia is caused by a mutation in the hemoglobin protein. The mutation that gives rise to sickled hemoglobin is thought to have been a successful adaptation to make the owner of these mutations resistant to malaria. However, because malaria is no longer such a life-threatening problem, the mutations became a problem.

As large molecules, proteins can be rigid or they can be flexible.

Hemoglobin is involved in transporting oxygen from the lungs to the cells and carbon dioxide from the cells back to the lungs, so it needs to be flexible. The mutation that creates sickled hemoglobin makes it much more rigid, which makes the red blood cell, more than 95% hemoglobin, assume the sickled shape that gives the disease its name.

Currently, we are engaged in a study to determine possible ways to make sickled hemoglobin much more flexible through drug treatments. Our colleagues in the Biomolecular Physics Research Group at UNC-Charlotte have developed software for parallel computing systems that can be used to explore the flexibility and

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stability of proteins, which we are utilizing in JCSU’s MACMAS Lab to study normal and sickled hemoglobin.

We start with X-ray crystal structures for normal and sickled hemoglobin typically produced by structural biologists or biophysicists. We use software to map out the hydrogen bonds in the protein and calculate their energies, then we use software to discover a set of empirical parameters that allow the model to reproduce the experimental heat capacity curve. This step may involve thousands of computer runs. Once we have these parameters and match the heat capacity curve, we can determine that validity and reliability of the predictions of our model that cannot be checked by an experiment, such as those involving the flexibility and rigidity of the molecule. Finally, we can use another computational procedure to modify our sickled hemoglobin model to simulate the binding of a drug at each of the possible amino acids. We will compare the flexibility and stability profile of each of these simulated drug interactions with the original sickled hemoglobin profile and identify sites likely to make good candidates for drugs that would bind there. Once we publish these results, other scientists may design new drugs to bind these sites.

Pictured: Timothy D. Champion, Ph.D., Chair of JCSU Natural Science and Mathematics mentors JCSU graduating Senior Clement Bowman, ’12.

They avidly pursue computational modeling in Smith Institute’s MACMAS Lab in search of molecular resolution for sickle cell disease.

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Center of Excellence in Diversity, Workforce and Small Business Development Within the Center of Excellence in Diversity, Workforce and Small Business Development, Innovo Laboratory is a social entrepreneurship initiative focused on strengthening Charlotte’s struggling small businesses by matching them with the expertise and resources of Charlotte’s most successful businesses. The goal is to expand the number of successful minority owned businesses in Charlotte, particularly in the city’s Northwest Corridor, while offering hands-on entrepreneurial training to JCSU’s students.

Pictured: (L-r) Umuhire “Liliane” Ntabana, Shakira Clarke, Charlton D. Hunley, Keisha Talbot Johnson, Ron Stodghill.

Center of Excellence in Global Education The creation of the Global Center has brought new activities to JCSU. The Center supports students’ applied research projects during study abroad in the summer, which has regularly taken place since 2009. Students have conducted research in Egypt, Spain, and Senegal. Under this Center, a new Global Education minor was created. Further course development is underway to make it possible for all JCSU students to be exposed to global studies.

JCSU student researchers studied abroad in Spain for the May, 2012 trip.

Pictured: Arches inside the Mezquita (the Great Mosque), a famous landmark in Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain.

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Smith Institute is a publication of Smith Institute for Applied Research at Johnson C. Smith University

Center of Excellence in Homeland Security STEM The HS-STEM Center of Excellence has achieved much success in a short time. Its goal is to prepare graduates to join the workforce and fill the talent gaps in the United States. It attracts and supports research and creates partnerships to address areas of national importance. Faculty and students have presented at national conferences and received national recognition for their research.

Pictured: Dr. Magdy Attia leads the STEM effort.

Center of Excellence in Minority Health & Family Wellness Between the Foster Care Initiative, which will support successful graduation of youth who have aged out of foster care, and the preconception peer education program, in which students educate and survey the community about infant mortality awareness, the Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Family Wellness has charted a course to remove barriers to healthy individuals and healthy families.

Pictured: Applied research in Minority Health.

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Smith Institute for Applied Research is

On the Move

By Connie Van Brunt, Manager, Smith Institute for Applied Research, and Senior Editor, Smith Institute, the Periodical When I was hired as Applied Research Coordinator for Smith Institute, I was tasked with helping to establish a world-class, leading-edge applied research function. It was necessary to find the best models for our work. Stepping out of my management and editorial role presents an invaluable opportunity to share, how in 2012, our Institute is truly on the move.

the Government of Dubai and the Head of Youth Offender Programs for the entire nation of Ireland.

Over the past several years, Smith Institute has looked to world-class leaders in applied research and to learning organizations, deeply valuing the undergraduate applied research experience. In my own case, being admitted to the inaugural summer, 2012 cohort of Harvard Kennedy School’s Using Evidence to Improve Social Program Effectiveness opened a gateway to utilization of the “gold standard” for applied research evaluation, from a global perspective. Together with fellow researchers and evaluators from countries as diverse as Albania, Brazil, Thailand and Tanzania, I gained an in-depth experience in the use of impact models and the ever-powerful Randomized Controlled Trial, to evaluate the contribution of programs arising from a wide array of applied research designs. This is invaluable to assessing our Smith Institute growing portfolio of applied research.

It was both riveting and motivating to learn that our Smith Institute questions about theories of change are shared and hotly debated in a primary source context from colleagues ranging from senior economists at the World Bank to a consultant from the Executive Council of

The CEO of a Brazilian Action Research Program and the Head of Behavioral Health for the United States Marine Corps share our Smith Institute questions about the best models for measuring the rate of change or “delta,” generated by varied quasi-experimental and experimental designs. And we all learned and grew thanks to exquisite case studies presented and examined by the program instructors, Dan Levy of Harvard’s Center for International Development and Julie Boatwright Wilson, Faculty coChair of the Kennedy School Executive Programs. All of us are up to our elbows in concern for community-based issues.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country…

JCSU graduate and Smith Institute’s Applied Research Intern, Shawana Wilson, ’12 attended the Complexity Science Summer School of a recognized, worldwide leader, Santa Fe Institute (SFI) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other JCSU students also participated in Summer Research Internships through the sponsorship of HBCU- UP and individual faculty efforts, as well as internship placements in Smith Institute’s MACMAS Lab. Shawana remarked that she found a new love in Santa Fe: chaotic and non-chaotic systems!

On the Road but Closer to JCSU

Nearly 20 percent of the JCSU faculty participated in the UNC at Chapel Hill Odum Institute’s 9th Annual Qualitative Research Summer Intensive. This special research intensive was sponsored by Diane Bowles, Ph.D., Vice President, Government Sponsored Programs and Research, and Executive Director, Smith Institute for Applied Research.

Pictured: Above, Smith Institute former Research Intern and recent JCSU alum, Shawana Wilson at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. Left top, Smith Institute Manager Connie Van Brunt with Harvard’s Director of the Center for International Development and Research, Dan Levy.

Left bottom, faculty and staff attendees who interacted with widely respected author, UNC-CH Professor and Qualitative Researcher, Dr. Catherine Marshall.

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Smith Institute is a publication of Smith Institute for Applied Research at Johnson C. Smith University

Graphical Chart

Digging Deep, continued from page 4 Factors of key concern for community residents depended upon their own level of educational attainment. Using level of educational attainment as a weighting mechanism helped the researchers uncover the community residents’ beliefs regarding the quality of education in the Northwest Corridor.

Those very high and very low on the Life Ladder do not surface with the same concerns about education in the community. However, those in between the extremes do emerge with similar concerns about educational quality as well as additional educational issues.

Grade School or Less

Student Level Observations

“My experience with Professor Amin, Randale Watson and the Data Mining Summer Fellowship allowed me to broaden my perspective. That is the goal of data mining itself! You have a mass of raw data, and you are tasked to use the program to find patterns in the data relationships, some of which are readily-detected and others which are much more subtle. The proliferation of data, computers, and programming has permitted this young field of data mining to flourish. The existing Soul of the Northwest Corridor dataset allowed us to use data mining as a research tool for taking a deeper look into the Soul of the Community with all of its complex variables. We learned that there is a connection between education and community attachment and how to identify the networks for describing the relationship.”

Some High School

Education Level

High School Graduate

– Philip A. Henry, Sophomore, Computer Science Major

Some College / Tech School

College Graduate

Post Graduate Work / Degree 0

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40

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Years of Residence This graphical chart shows average years of residence for the categories of highest level of education attained.

Communities are not keeping most of their high school and college graduates, while those with an education level of grade school or less, some college / technical school, and post graduates do tend to stay.

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“We specified that the level of education for the respondents should be split into two major categories. This in no way means that residents with lower educational attainment have less to contribute to this important discussion. But because as data-miners, we must dig deeper than others would want to go, through applying the principles of artificial intelligence and pattern recognition, in this case, we needed two distinct categories to get meaningful results. Our data mining software ‘learned’ and we learned from it afterwards. Importantly, we learned that quality of public schools is important to residents of the Northwest Corridor. However, there are many weighted factors that must be considered to support this conclusion. The two levels in which we split the groups are: college educated and above in the HIGH group; while if the final level of education achieved is high school graduate and below, the respondent was categorized in the LOW group.

Both groups, we learned, value the quality of education in the Northwest Corridor community, but for differing sets of reasons.”

– Randale Watson, Junior, Computer Engineering Major

Pictured: Right, (l-r) student Randale Watson, ‘14, and Associate Professor Awatif Amin at the Northwest School of the Arts.

“Our future data-mining research will explore weighted factors related to community attachment, by education level, which appears somewhat counterintuitive.”

– Randale Watson, Junior, Computer Engineering Major Fall 2012

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Birth of Charlotte’s Web, continued from page 11 Perhaps it was luck that led me to Tampa Bay Technical High School. I excelled in every class that was mechanical. It gave me a sense of acceptance and accomplishment. This was a key catalyst for my narrative, which I share with the Charlotte’s Web participants; I decided that my life was not going to be defined by the emptiness of life in foster homes. My story, and the stories of others like me, would build positive and powerful narratives—stories of overcoming fueled by the grace to never give up.

Parasitology and Food Safety, continued from page 15 microscopic analysis of muscle samples. For avian trichomoniasis investigations, Dr. David Scott, staff veterinarian at the Carolina Raptor Center, collects throat swabs from raptors. In collaboration with Dr. Rick Gerhold at the University of Tennessee, Bowman and Epps perform molecular and culture-based diagnostic methods on the throat swabs to detect the presence of Trichomonas gallinae.

Both Bowman and Epps took Dr. Rosypal’s parasitology course in spring 2012 and became so interested in parasite research, that they sought summer applied research internships. With a foundational study of the parasitology field, they have been able to apply their classroom knowledge to hands-on practice. In addition, students working with Dr. Rosypal develop their scientific communication skills by learning to write manuscripts and prepare poster presentations. With goals of becoming a physical therapist and a veterinarian, respectively, Epps and Bowman will be well-prepared for graduate and professional schools with skills they have sharpened through their summer applied research projects.

Narrative for Participatory Action Research, continued from page 12 and study as hard as I could.

I put a lot of effort into being able to speak clearly to my friends and teachers. During sixth grade, I finally brought home straight A’s. I was extremely proud, and wanted to show my grandfathers. Hearing their praise was powerful.

My maternal grandfather pushed me to the limit.

By eighth grade, I was back in mainstream class, able to be responsible for doing well in a regular classroom environment and without a translator. However, in ninth grade, my maternal grandfather passed away. He was a mentor who had changed my life forever. Without his support, I struggled to focus, but with help and encouragement from my parents, I pulled through high school and made my way to college. I am the first of this generation of my family to graduate from college.

Today, I have become a man who makes a difference in my community, providing educational opportunity to students with disabilities. My narrative helps me bring deep understanding of the struggles our students face and how to help them succeed. We can help make a difference in the Soul of the Northwest Corridor, based on what we have lived and overcome ourselves. We understand what it takes to help change the lives of these students. Charlotte’s Web is about making a connection with these students who are struggling.

It is important for me to serve as a role model, to prove that any student, even those who struggle, can make a difference and succeed.

Pictured: Above, Charlotte’s Web co-director, Michael McAllister works with students in JCSU’s MACMAS Lab. Below, student Charles Hauser Jr.

Student Researcher Update: Charles Hauser Jr. I want to graciously thank everyone who has helped me achieve collegiate success as I work to secure a better future for myself and my family. Through your help, I am blessed to currently be attending the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) at University of California, Berkeley.

The SROP is an eight-week program that offers summer research opportunities in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences. The goal of this program is to increase the level of diversity among students entering Ph.D. programs by providing research opportunities under the supervision of a faculty mentor.

This summer has exposed me to new experiences on the West Coast in the Bay Area. I’ve worked with my mentor John McNamara, a nationally and internationally exhibited artist and painter.

I am also working with Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, a nationally renowned film and video artist, Frank Marquez-Leonard, a nationally exhibited artist, painter, sculptor, and photographer, and Margo Mahan, Ph.D. Sociology, a published theorist. It has been a wonderful experience so far. I am finishing up my research and preparing to present at our symposium.

Again, thank you for the help, support, and time that you have given to make this possible.

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– Charles Hauser Jr., ‘13 Smith Institute is a publication of Smith Institute for Applied Research at Johnson C. Smith University

SMITH INSTITUTE

The periodical of Johnson C. Smith University’s Smith Institute for Applied Research Volume One, Number Three, Fall 2012 © Johnson C. Smith University President: Ronald L. Carter, Ph.D. Executive Vice President: Elfred Anthony Pinkard, Ed.D. Vice President, Government Sponsored Programs and Research; Executive Director, Smith Institute for Applied Research; Director, Title III: Diane Bowles, Ph.D. Editorial Publisher: Diane Bowles, Ph.D. Managing Editor: Keisha Talbot Johnson Senior Editor: Connie W. Van Brunt Editorial Copy Review: Mary C. Curtis Editorial Style Review: Benny Smith Editorial Review: Sarah Minslow, Ph.D. Photography & Design Primary Photography: Jeff Cravotta Photo Assistant: Heathir Fink Hair & Makeup: Chris Weast Indaba Photography: Wendy Yang Design & Creative Direction: Heathir McElroy Speet The contents of this Smith Institute for Applied Research publication were developed under the Title III Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), Award Number PO31B100094, from the Department of Education. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

The contents of this publication feature the 2012 Smith Institute-funded Pilot Research Cohort.

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Smith Institute is a publication of Smith Institute Applied Johnson C.of Smith University Pictured: Uptown alightfor in blue andResearch, gold for JCSU’s Arch Triumph Gala.

Charlotte’s Web Captures At-Risk Teens The theory of action for Charlotte’s Web is to capture at-risk African American and Hispanic male teens and pre-teens in our “web of success” before they are entrapped in the web of failure. This high technology mentorship will support positive, powerful life outcomes through building mental dispositions supporting strong Internal Working Models among the participants.

Research shows that unstructured “out-of-school” time, feeds the web of chaos afflicting our vulnerable male youth.

Therefore, this initiative posits an alternative, providing highly interactive technology activities and training for capturing our City’s high-risk male youth in a positive web of mentored interactions and high technology competencies after school and through the summer. Using the metaphor of Charlotte’s Web, our design posits a webmaster that, like the eight-legged master weaver spiders, provides an eight-pronged approach to positive and powerful outcomes for Charlotte’s at-risk school-aged and high school-aged male youth of color.

Pictured: Right, Charlotte’s Web Technology Mentorship® founders engage program participants through participatory action research that drives new life story narratives. Below, JCSU is lighting a pathway to the Northwest Corridor.

Join Us! We invite you to join us! Whether you are a student, faculty member, community organization, or small business, Smith Institute provides a variety of services for you.

For additional information on how to be involved with us, please contact Smith Institute for Applied Research.

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