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2003-2004 Academic Year Achievements
Faculty
The Board of Visitors made the following decisions regarding faculty in April, 2004:
Pam Gibson was promoted to Professor.
Kevin Apple received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor.
Jeff Andre received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor.
Bill Evans received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor.
Cheryl Talley received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor
Craig Abrahamson was selected to receive the new General Education Teaching Award. Craig is a wonderful instructor who has the rare distinction of regularly teaching 4 different Cluster 5 courses. He has played a leadership role in the recent redesign of Cluster 5 objectives and assessment. He is the only faculty member to teach and serve both the Sociocultural and Wellness areas of the cluster, and that capacity, he plays a key role in connecting the two dimensions of Cluster 5. He now serves on the General Education Council.
Virginia Andreoli Mathie will become Chief Executive Officer of Psi Chi! This summer, following her retirement from JMU, Ginny will assume the role of the national leader of Psi Chi, The National Honor Society in Psychology. Congratulations Ginny! This certainly will help us become better connected to Psi Chi national, and will bring JMU's great Psychology Major program to the attention of all psychology programs across the nation.
Kevin Apple was recognized and received honorary membership in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars at its annual celebration on October 1, 2003. Kevin was selected for his outstanding work as a classroom teacher.
Suzanne Baker won the award for the Best Poster at the Best Practices Intro Conference. Here's that information: Suzanne Baker, "Broadening the Perspective: Incorporating Non-humans into Introductory Psychology." Taking Off: Best Practices in Teaching Introductory Psychology, Sept 26-27, 2003 , Atlanta , GA.
Kenn Barron has been selected for the new 2004 CISAT Outstanding Junior Faculty Award. Kenn is one of our most productive faculty members. Faculty from around campus have benefited from his collaboration in research. The success of our Psychology Learning Community can be largely attributed to his initiative as well as his collaborators Lee Ward and Jeff Andre. He's a great teacher and his ideas have an important impact on discussions regarding ways to improve our program. He's a great advisor, and in collaboration with our other Freshman Advisors, Sherry Serdikoff and Jeff Andre, his ideas have helped to improve our campus's freshman advising and orientation programs.
William Evans, Psychology Faculty Member, and Coordinator of our Peer Advising Prorgram has been named one of this year’s recipients of the “All Together One” Awards.
Joann Grayson was selected as a winner of the 2004 TIAA-CREF Virginia Outstanding Faculty Awards, presented by VirginiaGovernor Mark Warner on January 21, 2004. This award is the Commonwealth's highest honor that is bestowed on faculty at Virginia's public and private colleges and universities. Grayson has been recognized for her oustanding work, especially in the field of child abuse prevention services. Through her service learning activities, Virginia Child Protection Newsletter, work with local agencies and direct work with clients, Grayson has made a tremendous difference in our community for over 20 years. She is well deserving of this recognition, and we are privileged and proud to have her on our faculty. You can read more about Joann's work at http://www.jmu.edu/jmuweb/general/news/general3554.shtml.
Charles Huffman participated in the McGraw-Hill Higher Education National Symposium on Introductory Psychology held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in April. The participants will be 15 invited instructors of large-group introductory psychology classes. These faculty will discuss the special challenges faced by faculty teaching general psychology in this format. JMU Psychology will benefit from ideas Charlie brings back to us from this conference.
Aashir Nasim has been named the 2004–2005 Mosier Fellow. The goal of his project, A Community-Initiated After-School Program for Harrisonburg Adolescents, is to engage high school students, their parents, teachers and local community professionals in the development of an after-school program that addresses the content-specific needs of Harrisonburg youth. This project will strengthen JMU’s presence in and service to the community. Drs. Nasim will complete his work during the 2004-2005 year and deliver his Mosier Lecture in the Fall semester of 2005
Students
The JMU chapter of Psi Chi was profiled in the Spring 2003 edition of "Eye on Psi Chi," the publication of the National Honor Society in Psychology. There are more than 1,000 chapters of Psi Chi, and JMU is one of 17 chapters that was cited for its excellent service work. The article describes how our chapter raised over $5,500 during the past two years during Relay for Life, a fund raiser for the American Cancer Society. Way to go, Psi Chi! Thanks also to their advisor, Sherry Serdikoff.
The Psychology Symposium on April 26 was a huge success. More than 70 posters were presented; about 20 more than last year. A faculty team selected best poster presentations, and I'm very pleased announce the award winners:
For the Dean's Award for Best Research Poster:
Katie Welborn. "Looking Beyond Gender in the Emotional Situation: Gender Role, Gender Self-Confidence, Emotional Experience, and Emotional Expression" Faculty. Faculty Advisor: Monica Reis-Bergan
For the Dean's Award for Best Practice of Psychology Poster:
Mary Iampietro and Heather Adams. "Psychosocial Rehabilitation at Western State Hospital" Faculty Advisor: Joann Grayson
For Department of Psychology Awards for Excellent Research Posters:
Rebecca Tull. "Organizational Interventions for Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" Faculty Advisor: Steven Evans
Mary Guldin, Stephen Albers, Alexis Denysyk, Marie Neyer, Melissa Rutsch, and Cheryl Talley "Effects of Subdiaphragmatic Vagotomy on Working Memory Modulation" Faculty Advisor: Cheryl Talley
Mary Huntsberry. "An Experimental Analysis of Tertiary Conditioned Reinforcement as it is Applied in Various Animal Training Practices" Faculty Advisor: Sherry Serdikoff
Melissa Shulleeta. "Examining the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) as an Animal Model of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD): An Analysis of Conditioned Reinforcement Using an Observing Procedure" Faculty Advisor: Sherry Serdikoff
For the Department of Psychology Award for Excellent Practice of Psychology:
Christina Leone. "Hospice: Help Them Live Until They Die" Faculty Advisor: Joann Grayson
Matt Thomas was selected and nominated by JMU for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship. The winner of this scholarship can receive up to $50,000 per year to help defray the costs of attending graduate school.
