Eastern Michigan University
April 4, 2024
Academic and Student Affairs
Provost Briefing
Institutional Priority #1
Promote Student Engagement and Success
Institutional Priority #2
High Performing Academic Programs & Quality Research
Student Highlights
Rana Aabed
Rana Aabed Fulbright Scholar Finalist
Senior psychology major and Presidential Scholar Rana Aabed has been named a finalist for the Fulbright Scholarship and has received an English Teaching Assistant Award to travel to Turkey in 2023-24. According to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the grant is a reflection of Rana's leadership and contributions to society.
Rowan Moxley Awarded CLS to Study in Taiwan
Junior quantitative economics major and Presidential Scholar Rowan Moxley was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese in Taiwan during the summer of 2024. The CLS Program provides opportunities for American university students to study languages and cultures essential to America's engagement with the world. Each year, fewer than 10% of applicants are awarded the scholarship.
Rowan Moxley
Sasha Grindall
Sasha Grindall Publishes Two Poems
Sasha Grindall, a junior English major with a concentration in creative writing, recently had two poems accepted for publication. Her poem "X, Y, See" will be published in the 2024 issue of "Brainchild," a literary and arts magazine for undergraduate honors students in the Mid-East Honors Association.
2024 Graduate Research and Creative Activity Conference: Review
The Graduate School would like to thank the faculty, students, and staff who made this year’s GRCAC such an immense success! We welcomed 100 poster, oral, and arts presenters from each College in the University. As always, we recognize the Faculty and departments who have gone above and beyond to get student participation: Jacob Lindquist (CHHS), Tony Shay (CET), Orthotics and Prosthetics, and History.
Additionally, we would like to recognize the winners of our annual “Best Abstract” award. The 2024 winners are:
Tehetna Hailu
Construction Management [M.S.]
Analyzing Traffic Crashes in Proximity to Elementary Schools in Ann Arbor: A Comparative Spatial Case Study of Construction-Related Road Closures
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Suleiman Ashur
Brieanna Hurley
Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology [M.S.]
Spatial Familial Relationships of California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus)
Faculty Mentor: Dr.Jonathan Hall
Chris Baker
History [M.A.]
Reassessing King John: An In-depth Analysis of his Reign and Legacy
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John McCurdy
Emmanuel D. Ogundare
Urban and Regional Planning [M.S.]
Understanding the Mediating Role of Artificial Intelligence in Urban Smart City Development and Implications for the United States
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Heather Khan Welsh
Jennifer Bennett
Cassidy Cartwright
Educational Studies [Ph.D.]
Social Work [M.S.W.]
Food Pantry Use in a University Community
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Christopher Robbins
The 2024 Graduate Research and Creative Activity Conference could not have been complete without this year’s inspirational keynote speaker: Shavonne Coleman.
Professor Coleman graduated from EMU with an MFA for applied drama/theatre for the young. Currently she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre & Drama at the University of Michigan. She has received the Emerging Leadership in TYA Fellowship, the Teaching Innovation Grant and President’s Staff Award, and the Anne K. Flagg Multicultural Award.
The Graduate School is also appreciative of our continued collaboration with the student group, Psychologists of Color, for their tireless efforts aimed at emphasizing and celebrating diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work that we all do.
Finally, we would like to thank the GRCAC committee, Janet Leppala, Jenny Kindred, and Sonia Chawla for organizing this important event. Additionally, we recognize the many volunteers that make the GRCAC possible. They are listed individually on page 53 of the 2024 GRCAC Program.
Shavonne Coleman
The research and creative activities that we do are vital to the success of the University, and the GRCAC is an excellent platform to share this work as a community. We hope to see many of you, and many new faces as well, at GRCAC 2025.
The Eastern Echo Named College Newspaper of the Year
The Eastern Echo has received the 2023 College Newspaper of the Year award by the Michigan Press Association.
The award is presented to the top college in three divisions based on publication size. The overall award is given to the publication that earns the most accumulated points in all editorial categories of the newspaper contest.
Read more on the CAS Newsletter and The Eastern Echo.
Content Editor Victoria Smith (left) and Editor-in-Chief Marie White (right) pose for a photo with their Michigan Press Association award after the ceremony. (Credit: The Eastern Echo)
Institutional Priority #3
Service and Engagement
Recap
Week of Excellence
EMU’s annual Week of Excellence celebrated distinguished students, faculty, lecturers, and staff in a week of well-earned recognition. From Thursday, March 14 through Friday, March 22, 2024, EMU held numerous events and awards ceremonies to celebrate excellence across our community.
Below are several highlights from this auspicious week.
Annual Service Awards
Congratulations to this year’s Annual Service Awards honorees for reaching a significant milestone in their careers at Eastern Michigan University. We would like to highlight three of EMU’s longest-running employees:
Ramona Milligan (40 years), Records & Registration
Rita Chattopadhyay (40 years), Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
Mary Linblade (50 years), Associate Director, Academic Human Resources.
All Annual Service Award nominees were celebrated at the 2024 Annual Service Recognition Luncheon held on Monday, March 18 in the Student Center Ballroom.
Faculty, Lecturer, and Staff Awards
Outstanding Faculty, Lecturers, and Staff were celebrated with the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Awards, the EMUFT Lecturer Distinguished Teaching Awards, and the Distinguished Staff Achievement Recognition Awards.
All three awards honor outstanding members of the EMU community, recognizing those who promote student engagement, who excel in teaching, research, and creative activity, and who are committed to leadership, innovation, and success.
Faculty and Lecturer Awardees
Mark Veal: EMUFT Distinguished Teaching Award (Management)
Henry Hastings: EMUFT Lecturer Distinguished Teaching Award (Marketing)
Amanda Maher: Distinguished Teaching I Award (History and Philosophy)
Marisol Garrido-Gutierrez: Distinguished Teaching II Award (World Languages)
Chuyang Yang: Distinguished Faculty Award for Research I (Technology and Professional Services Management)
Ali Eydgahi: Distinguished Faculty Award Research II (Engineering)
Christina Marsack-Topolewski: Distinguished Faculty Research II Award (Social Work)
Christine Neufeld: Distinguished Faculty Award for Service (English Language and Literature)
Distinguished Staff Awardees
Community Engagement and Service
Colleen Kibin, Director of Transfer Partnerships
Cathy Steiner, Assistant Director of Event Services
Outstanding Leadership
Donna Holubik, Director of Financial Aid
Kathryn Wilhoff, Director of Environmental Health and Safety
Andre Bravo, HRIS Data Specialist, Human Resources
Matthew Gregory, Director of the Sexual Misconduct Prevention & Response Office (Title IX) and Interim Director of the Disability Resource Center
Outstanding Innovation
Vanessa Gardner, Academic Advisor, Francine Parker Advising Center
Charles Krey, Assistant Director of the Student Center, McKenny Hall and the Lakehouse
Karen Peacock, Executive Assistant, Office of the Provost
Paul Vuocolo, Assistant Director, Web Services & Digital Strategy, Division of Communications
Student Engagement and Success
Sara Bamrick, Activities and Entertainment Coordinator, Campus Life
Melina Tumpkin, Mental Health Therapist, Counseling & Psychological Services
Leighanne Denja, Senior Financial Aid Advisor
Special Recognition Award in Outstanding Leadership
Dr. Wendy Burke, Department Head in Teacher Education
Student Gold Medallion Awards
In 1996, the Student Gold Medallion Awards were launched in recognition of the significant ongoing contributions students make to the success of institutional programs, activities and services. The Student Gold Medallion is the most prestigious student award presented by the University. (Campus Life Website)
The 2024 Award Recipients include:
Student Awards
Student Organization Awards
The Glenna Frank Miller Award for Collegiate Leadership
Kyle Martin
Eagle Ambassador
Shayla Mostyn
Chotika Pitaktouyhan
Outstanding Leadership
Hamzah Dajani and Catherine Shimanyula
Outstanding Mentorship by a Student
Christina Trotta
Brooke Whittaker
Outstanding Professionalism by a Student Employee
Jaliyah Wiggins and Hannah Shore
Outstanding Volunteerism by a Student
Daira Lloyd and Naomi Barbour
Outstanding Student Organization
EMUSociety for Human Resource Management
Outstanding Student Organization Advisor
Dr. Anushri Rawat
Outstanding Student Organization Program
Rain Garden Planting (Sierra Club EMU)
The Provost Office would like to give a heartfelt Thank You to every single member of the EMU community. Here’s to another year of excellence!
Robin Terry. Photo credit: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press
CMTA Alum Robin Terry Leads the Motown Museum through Major Expansion
Alum Robin Terry (BA, Telecommunications and Film, 1994) has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Motown Museum since 2015. Under her leadership the museum has grown its staff from 17 to 50 and launched a $65 million expansion.
Having held the position since 2002, Terry will continue as chair of the board as the museum initiates a search for a new CEO.
Upcoming Events
Summer Research Writing Sprint
Location: Student Center
Time/Date: Wednesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 23, 9AM - 3:30PM
Join us for a two-day writing retreat on Wednesday, May 22nd and Thursday, May 23rd. You bring your laptop and your work in progress. We’ll bring the snacks and the supportive environment to keep you focused and productive. Take two days away from the usual distractions and demands on your time. Reconnect with your writing practice and finally finish that manuscript (or book proposal or grant application or…)!
Achieving Your Summer Writing Goals: A How-To Workshop
Location: 109 Halle Library or Zoom
Time/Date: Wednesday, April 17, 10AM
The end of the semester is a hectic time for us all, and our scholarship often gets pushed to the back burner. We tell ourselves, “I’ll catch up on research over the summer.” But family obligations, travel plans and summer teaching can make those precious weeks fly by. How can you advance your scholarly agenda over the summer while still taking that much needed break? Join Sarah Walsh for an hour to plan your scholarly agenda for the summer. We’ll work together to set humane goals for ourselves and make a realistic plan for the next few months.
Career and Cultural Diversity Fair
Location: Student Center Ballroom
Time/Date: Thursday, April 4, 3:45 - 5PM
Be sure to attend the Careers and Cultural Diversity Fair, a campus-wide event that will gather professionals from Southeast Michigan from a variety of fields including business, healthcare, social sciences, and humanities. Students, faculty, administrators, and advisers are encouraged to attend this interactive event that will highlight the relevance of multicultural and multilingual competence in today’s professional fields. Invited guests will interact with participants and share with them their professional background, and their experiences and opportunities linked to working in a diverse workplace. The focus is to cultivate awareness on how broadening the understanding of languages and multicultural competence can help today’s professionals to overcome challenges and how to advance in their careers.
The Fulbright Scholar Program is a life-changing opportunity for faculty, staff, and administrators to teach, conduct research, and carry out professional projects in over 135 countries. Previous Fulbrighters report that the experience has been one of the most fulfilling in their careers, with profound effects on how they approach their teaching and scholarship in years to come. Please join us for this informational workshop. Participants will hear several experts talk about the various types of Fulbright grants and how to navigate the application process through EMU, as well as personal success stories of recent EMU faculty Fulbright grantees. Please check back with the FDC for registration and location information soon!
Calls for Proposals
Faculty-Student Research Fellowships
Deadline: Friday, April 12, 2024
The Faculty Development Center, with the generous support of GameAbove, is looking for proposals for our Faculty-Student Research Fellowships. Essentially, we are seeking partnerships to study partnerships! Fellowship proposals could concentrate on areas such as the value of partnerships, overcoming barriers in forming them, the transformative potential of partnerships, or other such topics. We are pleased to offer up to four grants for projects to take place during the 2024-25 academic year. Each project team must have at least one faculty member or lecturer and at least one student member on it. We will award up to $3,000 for each funded application, with continued funding possible for successful partnerships in the following year.
Collaborative Course (Re) Design Learning Community (CCRD)
Deadline: Monday, April 22, 2024
Collaborative Course (Re)Design (CCRD) is an approach to redesigning a course that you have taught previously. In CCRD, you and one of your former students work together collaboratively to redesign portions of a course that you want to update and improve. Faculty benefit from engaging in the CCRD process as it increases insights into student learning, and student collaborators benefit from engaging in the CCRD process as they develop insights into the teaching and learning process. Our learning community will include pairs of faculty-student partners who will participate in a learning community during the Fall 2024 semester. Ideal faculty fellows should have a course in mind that they have previously taught and to which they would like to make revisions. Additionally, they should be open to the possibility of collaborating with and learning from their student partner. We welcome applications from faculty members, full-time lecturers, and part-time lecturers in all programs.
Institutional Priority #4
Institutional Effectiveness
Staff & Faculty Highlights
Jeanette Zalba
Jeanette Zalba Presents Research at NASPA in Seattle, WA
Jeanette Zalba, Director of Housing & Residence Life and recent College of Education graduate, presented her qualitative research at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) conference in Seattle, Washington, in March. The session titled Conditions of Belonging for Black Men Living on Campus outlined the findings of her dissertation, including what components of the on-campus living experience enhance or hinder sense of belonging.
Miaisha Peoples Miller Named New Assistant Director of McNair Scholars Program
The McNair Scholars Program is pleased to welcome Miaisha Peoples Miller as the new Assistant Director of the program. Miaisha is a two-time alum of Eastern Michigan University and a long-time champion for student success. Miaisha, who came to EMU as a Presidential Scholar, earned a B.S. in public relations cum laude (with minors in business and theatre arts) and an M.A. in communication. Miaisha was first introduced to EMU as a participant in the King Chavez Park program during high school. During her time at Eastern, Miaisha was named to the Dean's list multiple times, was the Ms. Black and Gold 2007 scholarship winner, and played an active role in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, and theatre productions. Miaisha brings these varied lenses and perspectives to her role, and we are excited to have her back on campus! Congrats and welcome, Miaisha!
Miaisha Peoples Miller
In Memoriam
Dr. Annette Martin
Annette Martin, Ph.D., bid farewell on March 19, 2024, the first day of her 84th Spring, with Carole Huston, her partner of 47 years, by her side.
Terry Heck-Seibert & Annette Martin 2002
Annette was nationally recognized for artistic and academic excellence during her four-decade career in Interpretation & Performance Studies at Eastern Michigan University. The curriculum she developed drew undergraduate and graduate students from across the country. Her critically acclaimed body of creative, challenging, and frequently controversial original and stage adaptations of non-dramatic literature won numerous awards.
Annette earned a B.A. from Eastern Michigan, master’s degree in Theatre from the U. of Wisconsin, and doctorate from the U. of Michigan.
She adapted and directed productions based on novels by Faulker, Bronte, feminist author Kate Millette, and Pulitzer Prizing-winning poet W. D. Snodgrass, who called her production of his “The Führer Bunker” “brilliant.”
She directed existing plays as well as writing and staging unique and original productions, several with feminist themes, which won multiple “Best of” Awards for drama, direction and acting. While her work sometimes “pushed the envelope,” she was considered “brilliantly insightful,” “incredibly bold,” “a directorial genius.”
In addition to the EMU Celebration of Faculty Excellence-Artistic Recognition Award, Annette received the National Communication Association’s prestigious Irene Coger Award for Distinguished Performance based on her contributions as an artist, director, scriptwriter and teacher; and EMU’s Distinguished Faculty Award for scholarly and creative activity, which she considered the two most meaningful awards of her career.
Upon her retirement in 2002, EMU Board of Regents granted her emeritus status (1963-2002), citing her “relentless and uncompromising artistic and academic standards instilled in those, her students, and a desire to challenge, question, and create.”
In lieu of flowers, gifts honoring Annette’s legacy may be made to Eastern Michigan University Foundation, Interpretation & Performance Studies, P. O. Box 972057, Ypsilanti, MI 48197 or to a charity of your choice.
In words from Toni Morrison’s “Beloved”: “Some things you forget. Other things you never do….even if I die, the picture of what I did, or knew, or saw is still out there. Right in the place where it happened.”
A gathering to “rememory forgotten moments” will be held at a future date.
Online condolences may be made at www.bolesfuneralhome.com
Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.
Office of the Provost
Academic and Student Affairs
Prepared by: Andi Pontiff & Karen Peacock
734.487.3200