2017 Summer Bridge Faculty Notes

Jill Buchan, assistant professor of education, authored the following publications:”Effective Strategies for Teaching and Learning Independence in Literacy: The Daily 5 Structure;” and “A Review of the Research on Secret Stories®: Cracking the Reading Code with the Brain in Mind!” She conducted two presentations, “Using Strength-based Assessment in Daily Practice,” presented at the MSLBD National Conference, and “Small Changes-Big Rewards,” presented at the UNI Early Literacy Conference. She also received an Excellence in Teaching (2016-17) award and was named to the board of directors for the Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders.

Danielle Camacho, adjunct instructor, co-authored an article, “Shifting Gears in the Classroom – Movement Towards Personalized Learning and Competency-Based Education (CBE).” It was published in the December 2016 issue of The Journal of Competency-Based Education (doi: 10.1002/cbe2.1032).

Barbara Ehlers, associate professor of education, performed the following presentations: STEM Showcase, Oelwein, Iowa, November 2016; STEM Showcase, Waterloo, Iowa, January 2017; Environmental Issues Instruction professional development, Food, Farming, and Climate Change, Mount Vernon, Iowa, February 2017; Elementary STEM Extravaganza, Los Angeles, California, March 2017; Iowa Academy of Science, Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 2017; Environmental Issues Instruction update session, SOIL: The Earth Beneath Our Feet, Charles City, Iowa, April 2017; Environmental Issues Instruction update session, Food, Farming and Climate Change, Mount Vernon, April 2017; and Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking, Faculty Online Learning community training, May 2017. Ehlers was also involved in an Iowa Department of Natural Resources-REAP-CEP grant, wherein $44,792 was provided for professional development for environmental educators with the theme of Food, Farming and Climate Change.

Matthew Foy, assistant professor of communication, published one scholarly article and authored a chapter in a scholarly text. The article was titled “You’re Doing it Wrong, Tommy: Embodied Audiencing Rituals, Cult Texts in Crisis and the Struggle for the Room” and appeared in the Ohio Communication Journal (vol. 55). The chapter was titled “Riding Along with Racism: Using COPS to Teach Media Representation” and was included in Teaching From the Heart: Critical Communication Pedagogy in the Communication Classroom (2017).

Melinda Heinz, assistant professor of psychology, made two poster presentations this fall at the 69th annual Gerontological Society of America conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. One presentation was titled “Evidence of Psychosocial Theories in Oral History Narratives Among Oklahoma Centenarians.” The other was titled “Assessing Behavior Characteristics and Personality Traits of Centenarians Through Observational Coding: A Pilot Project.”

LeRoy Davis, adjunct instructor, has been appointed by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. Davis has also been appointed treasurer to the North Baton Rouge Economic Development District Commission.

William Jones and Rebecca Schmidt, both assistant professors of biology, presented a poster titled “Research and Enrichment: Implementing a Cell and Molecular Biology Teaching Lab at Upper Iowa University.”

Rick Klann, Delano professor of science, authored “Parasite Assemblages Infecting Native Versus an Introduced Population of Yellow Bass,” which appeared in the Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science (volume 122).

Meghan Jordan, assistant professor of English, was nominated this spring for the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools Dissertation Award. Dr. Jordan also presented a paper titled ‘”Too Sacred to Lay Bare’: Eliza Lynn Linton’s The Autobiography of Christopher Kirkland, Androgynous Abjection, and Cross-dressed Reflections‘ ” at the annual Southern Humanities Council Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

Mike Kimmel, adjunct instructor, published ”Acting Scenes for Kids and Tweens: 60 Original Comedy and Drama Scenes for Young Actors.”

Tiffany Kragnes, assistant professor of criminal justice, and Chris Kragnes, associate professor of business, worked with the Iowa State Public Defender for the second year in a row to provide UIU students with hands-on experience in the defense of clients in a class A felony trial. See the full story in this issue of The Bridge.

Katie Kress, writing center manager, had her essay “Body Memory,” published last spring in The Fourth River Journal, nominated for a Pushcart Prize in the creative nonfiction genre.

Meghan Mettler, assistant professor of history, presented a paper titled “Visit Japan by Subway: Japan-Inspired Products and 1950s Homemakers” at the annual conference of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) in San Diego, California.

Danielle Rosario Cushion, assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator, organized a faculty-led panel discussion around recent presidential executive orders and initiatives for Upper Iowa and the Fayette community on February 8. Chelsea Dowell, Redmond Humphrey and Richard Patrick, professors from the School of Business, were panelists, while Coach Tony Morris and softball student-athlete Shannon Nix served as moderators. Nearly 60 people attended the panel. Rosario Cushion presented to 98 women at the Women Leaders in College Sports Women’s Leadership Symposium April 27.

Paul Skrade, assistant professor of biology, co-authored an article with two others. “Testosterone and Prolactin Levels in Incubating Mountain Plovers (Charadrius montanus)” was published in the March 2017 issue of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (doi: 10.1676/1559-4491-129.1.176). Skrade also recently received three grants: Upper Iowa Audubon, $500 to purchase binoculars; Iowa Audubon Society, $600 to purchase binoculars; and Iowa DNR, $2000 to conduct forest bird surveys on recently acquired public properties. Skrade and 11 UIU students also attended the annual meeting of the Iowa Wildlife Society in Ames, Iowa, on February 15.

Christa Steffens, director of nursing, was recently accepted for a poster presentation on intellectual property rights for postsecondary distance education faculty. The conference is in August in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 Jennifer Stoffel (associate professor of biology), Paul Skrade (assistant professor of biology), Kata McCarville (professor of geosciences) and a contingent of 22 Conservation Management and Environmental Science majors attended Winterfest, the annual meeting of Iowa County Conservation Professionals, on January 22.

Stephanie Tippin, assistant professor of nursing, presented a poster at the Concept-Based Learning Institute NurseTim Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Roland Vazquez, professor of social science and anthropology, presented a paper titled “The Art of the Victim: A Basque Example” at the Central States Anthropological Association’s annual meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, in April 2017.