December Kudos: Faculty, staff and student awards, appointments and achievements
Faculty/Staff Recognition
Endia Beal, director of the Diggs Gallery and an assistant professor of art, has been appointed to the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s Advisory Council for its Inclusive Public Art Initiative. Beal will join council members from across the state to advise the foundation as it selects award recipients.
Endia Beal also has been selected as a Center for Curatorial Leadership (CLL) 2019 Fellow. The five-month program, which begins in January, aims to prepare museum curators to field the challenges of cultural leadership through a series of training modules, coursework with professors from the Columbia University Business School and professional opportunities. Beal is one of 12 art curators nationwide selected after a competitive review process.
Cynthia Bell, associate professor and chair of the Occupational Therapy (OT) Department, and Sharon Williams, adjunct faculty in OT, recently completed training to become a Chronic Disease Self-Management and Diabetes Self-Management Lay Leader. The training was offered through the Piedmont Triad Regional Council-Area Agency on Aging.
Megan Edwards Collins, associate professor of OT, has received the Suzanne C. Scullin Award from the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association. The award, presented on Nov. 11, is the highest honor for the NCOTA and recognizes Edwards Collins for her involvement with NCOTA and OT advocacy at the state and national level.
Jaime Hunt, vice chancellor for the Strategic Communications, has been elected to the Women's Fund of Winston-Salem's Board of Directors. The Women’s Fund of Winston-Salem, an initiative of The Winston-Salem Foundation, engages the community to build economic security for women and girls in Forsyth County. Hunt previously served as a member of the Fund's marketing committee.
Elwood L. Robinson, WSSU's chancellor, has been named one of the Triad Business Journal’s Triad Power Players for 2018. The publication saluted Robinson for bolstering academic performance at WSSU, and for his support of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Triad. Robinson was featured in a special section in the Nov. 1 issue.
Nancy Smith, clinical associate professor for the Physical Therapy Department, has successfully defended her doctorate degree. She completed her degree from North Carolina State University with a focus on Curriculum and Instruction with a Specialization in Instructional Technology. Her dissertation topic was “Facilitation of Physical Therapy Student Hypothetical Deductive Clinical Reasoning Using a Scaffolded Mobile Application.”
Peggy Valentine, dean of the School of Health Sciences, has received the Cultural Pluralism Award from the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions. The award was in recognition of her committee work in preparing a diversity white paper for the organization. She was honored during the annual meeting held in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Oct. 10.
Melicia Whitt-Glover, executive director of the Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Healthcare Disparities, served on the 2018 Physical Guidelines Advisory Committee for U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. DHHS recently published the second edition of its “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.”
Christopher York, adjunct faculty in the Department of Occupational Therapy, has received the department’s 2018 Teaching Excellence Award. York teaches an anatomy course offered in partnership with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He was chosen by the 2018 Master of Science in Occupational Therapy graduating class.
Latoya Wiley, director of Budget and Analysis, has been chosen the October WSSU Staff Senate Employee of the Month. The award was created by the Staff Senate Employee Recognition Committee.
Presentations/Speakers
Beth Fain, assistant professor of OT, was a presenter at the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce’s 17th annual Tech Briefing. The annual event, held at the Robert L. Strickland Center on Nov. 13, highlights innovators in Winston-Salem.
Foster Forrest, assistant director of public services for the C.G. O’Kelly Library, was the keynote speaker at the 2018 Access Services Conference held at the Georgia Tech Conference Center in Atlanta Nov. 14-16.
Lynn Millar, chair of the Department of Physical Therapy, was interviewed for an article in Reader’s Digest. The article focused on proven remedies for fast pain relief.
Socerey Speas, associate professor in the Department of Communications and Media Studies, was the keynote speaker at the Davie County NAACP annual Freedom Fund Banquet.
Faculty from the Department of History, Politics and Social Justice were speakers at the American Society of Criminology’s Annual Conference in Atlanta Nov. 13-16. Denise Nation, co-chair of the department an assistant professor, spoke on “Occupational Perceptions – From the Lens of Female Law Enforcement Officers: A Qualitative Analysis.” Jack Monell, associate professor and program coordinator of justice studies, spoke on policing minorities and the perception of police. Radscheda Nobles, assistant professor, chaired a roundtable session titled: “Collateral consequences: An In-depth Look at Challenges beyond the Sentence and Release” and spoke in three other roundtable discussions.
Student Recognition
Sport Management Program
A team of four WSSU sport management students earned first place in the case study competition at the annual North Carolina Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance - Sports Management (NCAAHPERD-SM) Convention. WSSU’s team members were: Javondre Cole, a freshman from Portland, Oregon; Jojuan McCorke, a junior from Winston-Salem; Cameron Morris, a junior from Charlotte; and Erin Thompson, a junior from Hillsborough.
Also at the conference, Fatima Jackson, a senior from Prince George’s County, Maryland, finished second place in the “Sports Management Student of the Year” competition. For the competition, Jackson submitted a video resume highlighting achievements related to the sports management industry. Nine WSSU sport management students attended the convention, which was held Nov. 1-3 in Winston-Salem.
Simon Green Atkins Scholars Society
Sydney Sutton-Hyman, a senior biology major from Greensboro, won first place in the poster competition at the National Association of African American Honors Programs Conference. Sutton-Hyman’s poster detailed her research on mammary tumor cell line. The conference was held in Concord Nov. 14-17. Sutton-Hyman is the president of the Simon Green Atkins Scholars Society and a research assistant for Dr. Stephanie Dance-Barnes.
Department of Computer Science
Two WSSU computer science majors attended the Sixth annual UNCF HBCU Innovation Summit in Silicon Valley on Oct. 10-13. Alexus Deese, a senior from Charlotte, and Joel Evans, a senior from Durham, were among 150 HBCU students chosen for the summit. UNCF covered all expenses for the summit. The summit included a tech company tours, startup tech entrepreneurship workshops, and career fairs. The program is open to HBCU students in technology fields.
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