FALL 2022 CASE ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

CASE Alumni Newsletter

or our fall 2022 CASE Alumni Newsletter, I wanted to focus on the many and varied activities and achievements of our departments, faculty, and students. Our faculty and students continue to be engaged in research and creative activity, experiential learning opportunities, education abroad, and other events. Here are just a few highlights of our busy lives on campus and in our community!

In the area of research and creative activity, many faculty and students achieved recognition for

their work and were selected for various presentations, recognitions, and performances. Below are some of the highlights submitted by our CASE Department Chairs.

Two students from the Department of Biology participated in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates this past summer. Helena Heiberger worked in the Lewis Lab in the Plant and Microbial Biology department at the University of California, Berkeley, conducting research on how the plant immune system responds to bacterial effectors by inducing effector-triggered immunity Mackenzie Abts was a participant in the Duke University Marine Laboratory Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC. These students were drawn to research projects as a result of mentorship from UNA faculty members, Brian Kim (Helena) and Eric Becraft (Mackenzie).

The Department of Cinematic Arts and Theatre’s (CAT) stage production of the Folklore Project was selected to participate in the 2023 Southeastern Theatre Conference's Fringe Festival. CAT alumni Cole Johnson ('21), Mary Maggie Johnson ('21), and Jacob Skinner's ('20) UNA practicum film After Tomorrow was selected for the Knoxville, Black Warrior, Sioux City, and Southern film festivals. They won Best Student Film, Best Actress, and Best Actor awards, respectively, at the Southern film festival.

FROM THE DEAN

Faculty member, Michael Curtis Johnson, produced the short film The Kind of Love That Hurts with CAT faculty, students, and alumni. The film was screened at the Tallahassee Film Festival and the University Film and Video Association Conference. CAT alumnus Kristopher Dewberry ('21) was awarded the University of Alabama 2022 Holle Award for Excellence in Screenwriting

($10,000 cash prize).

This summer, Cheryl Price, Chair in the Department of English, traveled to Oxford, England on a research fellowship where she conducted archival research in the

Bodleian Libraries at Harris Manchester College. Cheryl was also elected as President of the Victorians Institute, an interdisciplinary academic society dedicated to the study of the Victorian period. Jason McCall was the Poet-inResidence at this year’s Southern Foodways Alliance Fall Symposium where he read poems related to the symposium’s theme, which was barbecue.

Jason was also invited to do a reading of his works at Auburn University at Montgomery this fall.

Fulbright specialist and Chair, Bob Garfrerick in the Department of Entertainment Industry, completed a Fulbright teaching assignment in Lugano, Switzerland in June 2022. Visiting Artist and Faculty member, John Paul White, organized and performed a concert, Home for the Holidays, in November to raise funds for the endowed scholarship in his name.

Several faculty, Alejandra

Alvarado-Brizuela, Stephanie Coker, Claudia Vance

(Department of Foreign Languages), and Jeffrey Bibbee

(Department of History), presented research in education at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. Honors students in Foreign Languages gave presentations at the UNA Education Abroad Poster Session.

In the Department of History, Ansley Quiros had a piece published in the Washington Post and included in the Congressional Record. The department celebrated the work and contributions of Carl Gephardt who retired in December after 22 years of teaching religion courses at UNA.

During the fall semester, undergraduate student Tessla Morales in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Studies conducted research on “The Role of Paid

Maternity Leave on a New Mom’s Health and Physical Well-Being.” Undergraduate student Kimberly Mask Swindle worked on “Identifying Obstacles That Face Aging Adults as They Seek Dental Care.” Graduate student, Jackie Baker, analyzed “Identifying Factors of Successfully Housing the Homeless,” and Katoria Grissom, an MPrS student in Higher Education Administration, investigated “The Non-Traditional Undergraduate and Degree Attainment Through Distance Learning.” Read more about their students’ research at Instagram.com/IDSatUNA.

Faculty in the Department of Mathematics published six articles and were selected for 13 conference presentations. Students (mentored by faculty) were involved in 16 conference

presentations and three students participated in research internships. The department hosted the Kappa Mu Epsilon Southeastern Regional Convention which included six universities. They also were heavily involved in the summer STEM camp, lead training in HudsonAlpha Code program, and the continued CPR^2 grant.

Gretchen Windt and Meghan Merciers, from the Department of Music, presented at a national conference, American Single Reed Summit, at the University of South Carolina in October 2022 where they featured music that highlighted female poets and the music of living composers, Peter Temko and Hilary Tann. Yi-Min Cai and guest pianist, Scott Holhouser performed with the Shoals Symphony at UNA under the baton of Suren Petrosyan in a brilliant performance of the Poulenc Piano Concerto for Two Pianos in Norton Auditorium.

Alex and May Takeuchi, in the Department of Psychology and Sociology, published an article and a book chapter and presented at a regional conference.

This newsletter features an article about Experiential Learning which is an important component of our upcoming accreditation process. UNA strongly encourages students to participate in activities that will enhance and solidify their understanding and grasp of course objectives. The opportunities for students are too many to list all, but below is a sampling of the wide variety of activities available to our students to heighten their knowledge and understanding.

Darby Holt, a UNA English major, was a member of a NASA’s L’SPACE Academy student team who competed against 400 other students and tied for first place in the NASA Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience (NPWEE). Holt’s team won $10,000 in funding, which will allow them to further develop project ECROPS They also had another English major place in the top 5 of the competition, Hannah James. UNA is the only university sending Professional Writers/English Majors to this internship program the rest of the interns are all in STEM fields.

FROM THE DEAN CONTINUED

The Department of History hosted Dr. Mikko Saikko, of the University of Helsinki, for a talk “Manly Nations through Nature: Frontier, Wilderness, Hunting, and Class in North America and the Nordic Countries,” and Dr. Sam Perry, of the University of Oklahoma, who spoke on “A House Dividing: Why White Christian Nationalism is Everyone’s Problem.”

The Department of Music provided many faculty and student recitals; band, choir, opera/musical theatre, and orchestra performances; and a variety of master classes presented by guest clinicians.

The Departments of Politics, Justice, Law, and Philosophy (PJLP) and Geoscience collaborated to offer the Interagency Cooperation Field Practicum Education Visit and Symposium to students in Wayne Bergeron’s Interagency Cooperation course in Criminal Justice/SEM and Michael Pretes’ Geopolitics course. Ten students and the two faculty members travelled to Washington DC in November. Students were able to explore interagency cooperation in law enforcement, crisis management, and national security by visiting the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, the US Department of Energy (Office of Science), the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, and the US Marshals Service. Students also had the opportunity to visit various Washington DC landmarks, memorials, and museums. The UNA Mock Trial Team (PJLP) began its competition season in October, participating in tournaments held by the University of Arkansas and the University of Mississippi. The team, under the leadership of Senior team captains Lovepreet Chopra and Yaslin Perez, represented themselves well against teams from Rhodes College, Millsaps College, Middle Tennessee State University, Missouri State University, and Brandeis University. UNA’s Model UN team, led by Leah Graham, competed in Washington DC in November, where they represented the Republic of Albania in General Plenaries, Security Council, World Health Agency, and United Nations Environmental Assembly. The team passed all of their sponsored resolutions, coordinated several collaborations, and gave rousing speeches as a part of the competition.

Opportunities for Education

Abroad experiences are an important facet of our commitment to providing experiential learning for our students. The department of Foreign Languages led education abroad trips to France (Stephanie Coker and Robert Rausch from the Department of Visual Arts and Design), Germany (Rebecca Linam and the College of Business and Technology), and Spain (Scott Infanger and Claudia Vance). Additionally, department faculty and students participated in semester-long Collaborative Online International Learning projects with University of Lorraine, France (Stephanie Coker’s French class) and the Universidad Marista, Mexico (Claudia Vance's Spanish class).

Community engagement activities included Rebecca Linam’s SPARK for German program classes at the Florence Library, Andrea Nate's simulated clinical encounters in Spanish for her class, interpreting internships at Florence City Schools, and volunteer interpreting at la Clínica Cristiana.

Upcoming trips Education

Abroad trips for Summer 2023

include: (We have had alumni join us for Education Abroad. Let us know if you are interested!)

United Kingdom: Cheryl Price and Brenna Wardell

Spain: Claudia Vance and Alejandra Alvarado-Brizuela

Paris: Stephanie Coker and Robert Rausch

Costa Rica: Lisa Blankinship and

Emily Karl

Italy: Dhrumil Patel, Kendra

McLain, and Laura McKee

Germany and England: Gabriela

Carrasco and Chris Klein

Germany: Rebecca Linam

University Gallery Director, Chiong-Yiao Chen (Visual Arts and Design) facilitated exhibits in the UNA Galleries: Florence

Artists in Practice: A Continued Pursuit showcased 13 local artists; Holding Time featuring works by Kristin Husainy; the Hidden Spaces Exhibition, a collaboration between Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area (Carrie Crawford), UNA Public History Center (Brian DempseyHistory), and photographer, Abraham Rowe. Students in Kristin Husainy’s classes visited several art spaces in Nashville and the Rosenbaum House here in Florence.

The Jeff Eubanks Culinary Arts Management program offered a Chopped Challenge for student chefs and the Fashion Merchandising and Design program held the Shoals Designer Showcase, a student-led fashion show featuring student designs and including works of local

designers Billy Reid, AL Chanin, and Su Vichi. This event featured a collaboration with CAM/HEM as the students designed, created, and served the food for the event, as well as a collaboration with students from Northwest Shoals Community College’s Salon & Spa division, who created hair and makeup looks for the fashion show in October.

I hope many of our alumni can visit us and experience the energy and excitement of our outstanding and engaged faculty, staff, and students!

ROAR LIONS!

Dr. Sara Lynn Baird, Dean

QEP

Preparing the Pride: Experiential and Work-Based Learning

In the fall 2022 semester, The University of North Alabama (UNA) launched its new Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP): Preparing the Pride: Experiential and Work-Based Learning. Part of UNA’s reaffirmation process for accreditation, Preparing the Pride is a five-year plan that aims to increase opportunities and student engagement in undergraduate experiential and work-based learning across four domains:

·

Work-based Learning

·

Mentored Research and Creative Activities

Service-learning

·

Immersive Learning

The overarching goal of Preparing the Pride is to create a culture where students embrace curricular-based experiential and work-based learning and, upon graduation, are more prepared for the world of work or to continue their post-graduate education. A thorough analysis of UNA’s institutional framework, strategic plan, and priorities led to the development of the QEP, and it reflects the institution’s commitment to continuous improvement. UNA has established major student learning outcomes (SLOs) for the QEP and will

engage in continuous assessment of the SLOs over the next five years to determine the impact of student engagement with experiential and workbased learning. Central to the assessment of the student learning outcomes will be the inclusion of a critical reflection assignment, whereby students will consider how their experiential and work-based courses build expertise and the ways in which new skills can be applied to other situations, courses, and their career.

Your University of North Alabama Career Center staff is happy to announce the return of a campus wide, all majors career fair this spring semester, currently scheduled for April 12, 2023. When asked about what one would like to see in relation to career events, one dean responded “bigger, more, and more relevant.” In response, the Career Center is looking forward to collaborating with all colleges, deans, faculty, and staff to deliver precisely those outcomes in a variety of opportunities for our students.

To meet the “bigger” challenge, the Career Center sent out a “save the date” to over 3,000 employer contacts as a result of a collaborative effort of shared contacts among the colleges, with almost immediate feedback from employers like Lockheed Martin, Big River Broadcasting, and Alabama Broadcasters Association.

Regarding “more relevant,” we are aware that financial firms employ not only finance and accounting majors, manufacturers employ not only engineers, and medical facilities employ not only doctors and nurses.

Dr. Rickey McCreless

All of these organizations, including public and non-profit, hire for creative positions in marketing or public relations, for psychologists in human resources, and for business management in medical or even governmental agencies. An event like this can provide opportunities for a diverse group of students with a wide variety of majors to interact with a diverse group of employers. This event also aligns with the goals of the university to increase experiential learning which is a probable outcome from interactions with these employers on our campus, the goal to increase diversity and inclusion evidenced by connecting students from varied curricula with many different employers, and the goal of defining our institutional identity as work-force focused by increasing the potential for students to intern or work with fellow UNA students and alumni locally, regionally, and globally.

In response to “more,” we plan to host more college and degree specific events for the fall semester such as panels, employer classroom visits, and networking mixers, while the spring semester will feature the larger campus-wide all-major fair. Of course, these events need active participation to be successful. In addition to our current students, we would welcome any of our alumni to joy us as exhibitors or to enhance your own careers We hope you will consider participating in this opportunity to collaborate and interact with our deans, faculty, staff, and students!

If you run into Dr. Cindy Stenger at a basketball game, she may start to brag about one of her student’s research accomplishments. Helping students learn to engage in original research, make conjectures, and eventually present their findings is one of the most rewarding aspects of her work at UNA. “A few years back, we had a QEP that was oriented toward undergraduate research, and we got a lot of support to work on projects with students and to take them to speak at conferences,” Stenger said. “So, we started doing that, and, looking back, that focus on working with undergraduates on research projects was a defining moment for me.”

As a professor of mathematics, her passion for student engagement is no secret, specifically, she prefers working across disciplines and with teams of likeminded scholars. Her prior career, working in the tech industry as senior research analyst and then as an applied mathematician, set this course. “I have seen a lot of changes in my 20+ years at UNA, I would not have predicted that undergraduate research and a masters in math would eventually consume 75% of my teaching load,” she said. “My time working in industry over in Huntsville showed me how mathematics could be applied to real world problems. Working with a team and using my training in higher level mathematics, generalizing the results in order to solve a practical problem, brings me a lot of satisfaction.”

In 2018, Dr. Stenger began working on the CODE project with faculty at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology to crowdsource bioinformatics research. So far, she has led over 50 undergraduate research projects, with paper publications for five students to date, and prestigious internships such as deCode genetics in Reykjavík, BioTrain at HAIB, and the Prokop Lab at MSU. For a comprehensive list of student projects: https://www.una.edu/math/undergraduate-research.html. Dr. Stenger has coauthored with CODE faculty on several papers with 57 citations of their contributions. “This March we have an article in Comprehensive Physiology that names our work here at UNA,” she said. “I am so proud of what we have accomplished.”

My name is Brenita Softley and I am currently a criminal defense attorney in Louisiana. I advocate for those facing life sentences and the death penalty. Growing up, I was always interested in Civil Rights and Black History, but I wasn’t quite sure how to fulfill that passion. However, my beloved alma mater, The University of North Alabama, helped get me on the path that I am on today. My first experience with UNA was when I was a high school senior participating in the dual enrollment program. My professor, Dr. Ansley Quiros, told me she hoped I would attend UNA and sure enough, I did. Although I decided to major in History, I still wasn’t sure what to do as a career.

My interest in law wasn’t sparked until Civil Rights attorney Fred Gray came to speak to a group of students. This interest was solidified when members of the Equal Justice Initiative and Southern Poverty Law Center spoke about the history of mass incarceration. After these two events, everything throughout my tenure at UNA pointed to law school. I was able to become a leader within my sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Nu Omicron Chapter. The University Attorney, Amber Fite-Morgan mentored me and got me a job at The Irons Law Firm.

I had (and continue to have) so much support at UNA. When it came time for me to apply to law school and even take the bar exam, many of my professors and mentors wrote letters of recommendation. There’s a saying that says “be the change you want to see” and UNA has helped me achieve that. Because of that, UNA will always have a special place in my heart.

Roar Lions!

When I started at UNA, I was a music education major because I always knew that I wanted to teach something. After bouncing around with different majors, I eventually found Foreign Languages. I was involved in several student organizations, including the Marching Pride, the German Club, Model U.N., and several others. I really appreciated and enjoyed the variety of opportunities that were offered to me. I met my soon to be wife in the university band. Through Model U.N., I gained perspective on global issues that I had never thought about before, and the various groups within the Department of Foreign Languages allowed me to use what I was learning within the community One of the most significant community projects that I participated in was Spark for German and the support of the department was instrumental in my being able to be involved. This experience helped me gain valuable teaching experience, while at the same time, provided elementary and middle school aged students the opportunity to learn German. With the recommendation and encouragement of my professors, I applied to be an English teaching assistant in Germany through the Fulbright Scholarship, and eventually learned that I received the grant for this prestigious opportunity.

ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT

Once in Germany, I began to appreciate the more practical aspects of my education. It's one thing to be able to order your food in a restaurant and another to discuss your eligibility to receive a residence permit at the foreigner’s office. My time as a teaching assistant has only strengthened my will to be an educator. The school where I teach allows me to work with students of various ages and language levels and even lead the lessons at times. Because of this, I am excited to continue where I left off in the Master of Education degree, empowered by the extensive classroom experience that the Fulbright Scholarship has provided.

Philip is a senior and a non-traditional, pre-med student majoring in Spanish with a minor in chemistry. He had been living in central Alabama and working in emergency medical services (EMS) for ten years when he decided to move back

home to the Shoals to attend UNA. While working in EMS, he found a desire to work with medically underserved and economically disadvantaged populations.

He chose UNA because of its outstanding reputation, proximity to family, and its specific course offerings that facilitated his specific academic goals. During his time at the school, he has found an excellent mix of didactic offerings, experiential learning opportunities, personalized and in-depth career and academic advising, incredible teachers, and amazing extracurricular activities When asked what his favorite thing about UNA is, he can confidently answer “the relationships I’ve built here.”

He loves UNA and notes that in his home department, the Department of Foreign Languages, he has learned to speak Spanish and is in the process of refining his linguistic skills in a desire to be part of the solution in meeting the growing healthcare need for Spanish speakers. He says that he is proud to be a member of a department and school that provides such a wide array of offerings beyond the classroom ranging from internship to study abroad and experiential learning opportunities tailored to the student. In the Department of Chemistry and Physics, he has found teachers willing to go the extra mile to support their students, develop relationships, provide personalized feedback, and leave each of their students feeling like an individual and not simply a number.

Philip and his family are very happy they chose UNA as their home for his undergraduate education. His experience has been extremely positive, and he is proud to consider himself part of the UNA Pride!

Hi everyone! My name is Jasmine Sherman, and I am so excited to start my graduate journey here at UNA working for CASE. I recently received my undergraduate degree from UNA in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. During my time as an undergraduate student, I worked for the university’s Housing and Residence Life Department as a Senior Resident Advisor for three years. I also had the pleasure of working for the SOAR program for the past two years. This past summer I was fortunate enough to become Head SOAR Counselor. One of my proudest accomplishments was during the fall of 2020 when I pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. I am very grateful for those experiences because I met many amazing individuals. My initial journey started five years ago in the Summer of 2018 while I worked as a summer employee for one of Birmingham’s YWCA Programs. One Friday they drove the summer interns to Florence, AL to visit UNA’s campus. I was fortunate enough to have met a Lagrange tour guide who was a Criminal Justice major. This was important, because I was able to connect with him and envision my UNA experience through his story. He detailed how amazing the campus was and how the university’s size allowed for better access to his professors anytime that he needed help. This was important to me, because I wanted to attend a university where I was a name and not just a number. Ever since that day I was sure that UNA was the right place for me. During my time here I have grown tremendously as an individual, and part of that is due to the amazing leadership/mentorship that I was blessed to have found right here on campus. I love the university so much that I am now in pursuit of my Master of Science in Family and Community Services. I have a passion-filled purpose for helping others and I cannot wait to go out into the world and change lives, all while expressing how UNA has changed mine. I would encourage anyone who is looking for a home away from home where the professors genuinely care for you and pour into your life to please consider UNA The people, experience, and opportunities here are truly one of a kind.