(JACKSON, Miss.) — Jackson State University will hold an induction ceremony for Cohort I of the Academy for Research and Scholarly Engagement at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in the Student Center Theater.
The first cohort includes the following 40 scholars, who represent all five colleges at JSU and the Division of Undergraduate Studies:
| Dr. Mohammed Ali-Department of Technology | Dr. Yu-Chun Kuo-School of Lifelong Learning |
| Dr. Ronica Arnold-Branson-School, Community and Rehabilitation Counseling | Dr. Shonda Lawrence-School of Social Work |
| Dr. Pamela Banks-Department of Psychology | Dr. Xejun Liang-Department of Computer Science |
| Dr. Azad Bhuiyan-Department of Epidemiology and Bio-Statistics | Dr. Lennie Little-Center of Teacher Quality/Educational Leadership |
| Dr. Gloria Billingsley-Department of Public Policy and Administration | Dr. Duanjun Lu-Department of Physics, Atmospheric Science and Geosciences |
| Dr. Dawn Bishop-McLin-Department of Psychology | Dr. Robert Luckett-Department of History and Philosophy |
| Dr. David Bramlett-Department of Mathematics | Dr. Anna Marshall-School of Social Work |
| Dr. Jessica Buck-Department of Technology | Dr. Vershun McClain-Department of Entrepreneurship |
| Dr. Rico Chapman-Department of History and Philosophy | Dr. Preselfannie McDaniels-Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages |
| Prof. Rhonda Cooper-Department of Political Science | Dr. Michael Moore-Department of Psychology |
| Dr. Padmanava Dash-Department of Biology | Dr. Benjamin Ngwudike-Department of Educational Leadership |
| Dr. Stephanie Davidson-Elementary and Early Childhood Education | Dr. Olga Osby-School of Social Work |
| Dr. Monica Flippin-Wynn-Department of Mass Communications | Dr. Candis Pizzetta-Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages |
| Dr. Regina Fults-McMurtery-School, Community and Rehabilitation Counseling | Dr. Sherry Rankin-Division of Undergraduate Studies |
| Dr. Serguei Goupalov-Physics, Atmospheric Science and General Science | Dr. J. R. Smith-Department of Management and Marketing |
| Dr. Theresia Johnson-Ratliff-School of Social Work | Dr. Ingrad Smith-Educational Leadership |
| Dr. Ramzi Kafoury-Department of Biology | Dr. Francis Tuluri-Department of Technology |
| Dr. Hyunju Kim-Department of Computer Science | Dr. Deirdre Wheaton-School of Lifelong Learning |
| Dr. Yungkul Kim-Department of Biology | Dr. Patricia Wilkerson-School of Social Work |
| Dr. Evornia Kincaid-Elementary and Early Childhood Education | Dr. Carmen Wright-Department of Mathematics |
The JSU Academy for Research and Scholarly Engagement will consist of an academic-year program that will include a series of workshops, coaching through the entire grant writing process with an individual Academy Coach, and scheduled interactions with program officers from funding agencies and foundations. Each faculty participant will be paired with an Academy Coach who is selected from active researchers at JSU.
Benefits to participants include:
- An opportunity to significantly enhance one’s proposal writing skills;
- Participation in a community of scholars from multiple disciplines across JSU;
- Opportunities to interact with and obtain coaching from distinguished colleagues who have excelled in obtaining funding for their Research and Scholarly Agendas;
- Funded opportunities to engage with program officers from federal agencies and foundations to discuss their Research and Scholarly Agenda and concept for funding; and
- $5,000, which includes a $3,000 stipend and $2,000 for a trip to their proposed funding agency.
“President Carolyn W. Meyers has been a champion of this initiative,” said Dr. Loretta A. Moore, Associate Vice President for Academy for Research and Scholarly Engagement. “She wants to invest in faculty, and this is one of the ways she’s doing it.”
The purpose of the Academy for Research and Scholarly Engagement is to advance the careers of promising young researchers and emerging scholars by ensuring that they establish a compelling research agenda, participate in a community of scholars, and obtain external funding.
“The advancement of these scholars is part of the university’s research strategic plan and will benefit the individual scholars and the entire JSU community, including both undergraduate and graduate students,” said Dr. Felix Okojie, Vice President for Research and Federal Relations. “We expect to broaden the community of faculty members who submit proposals and receive funding as principal investigators.”
The Division of Research and Federal Relations and the Division of Academic Affairs are sponsors of the program and are working together to ensure scholars at Jackson State receive the appropriate support to broaden the university’s research agenda and enhance the faculty development activities at the institution.
“The Academy is a wonderful way to encourage and support faculty creativity,” said Dr. James C. Renick, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “The support of these interesting ideas has the possibility to transform the university.”
For more information, visit the Academy’s website at https://sites.jsums.edu/scholarlyengagementacademy/ or contact Dr. Loretta A. Moore at 601-979-0552 or loretta.a.moore@jsums.edu.