Thursday, January 31, 2013
research and engagement academy participants

Class of 2013

The University of New Hampshire’s Research and Engagement Academy inducted twenty faculty members into its third Academy class for the spring of 2013. The Academy is a cohort based faculty development learning community designed to enhance faculty members’ scholarly careers by strengthening the quality and quantity of proposals submitted to external funders and increase the diversity of faculty who are awarded grant funding. This faculty development Academy is one of several programs offered by the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Engagement and Academic Outreach and the Office of Research Development & Communications to help advance and support faculty scholarship and engagement through external funding.

Tenure-track, research, and extension faculty who exhibit promise were nominated to participate in the Research and Engagement Academy by their dean or director. As a result of a competitive application review process conducted by a review panel of UNH faculty, twenty faculty scholars were selected from those who applied. The class includes participants from all across the campus.

Each Academy scholar commits to submit a competitive grant proposal to an external funder, to attend seven half-day workshops and to receive guidance from an assigned “scholarly coach.” Scholarly coaches are senior UNH faculty with established track records of external funding and with the personal qualities necessary to serve others. Additional support for proposal development is offered by the Office of Research Development and Communication.

This is a very important initiative—one of our signatures programs developed to help implement and bring to life the UNH Strategic Plan. “Frankly I am hands-down impressed with our faculty here at UNH! A number of our Scholars in the first two Academy classes have already been awarded funding to help support their scholarship, noted Senior Vice Provost, Julie E. Williams. “Assistant Professors Dennis Britton and Cord Whitaker from the Department of English, Yannis Korkolis in Mechanical Engineering, and Svetlana Peshkova in Anthropology all won very prestigious awards to help support their scholarly work. They are among a larger group of successful colleagues who have joined our learning community of scholars.”

University Professor and Provost, John Aber further stated, “The Research and Engagement Academy has already exceeded our initial expectations.” There are now 63 faculty directly involved in the Academy—this includes 20 scholars this year and 43 Academy alumni—and 11 senior faculty currently serving as scholarly coaches. Aber furthered remarked that, “I am pleased with the results from the last two years of the Academy and look forward to the positive outcomes for this incoming class, our university and our partners.”

Professor Eleanor Abrams, senior faculty fellow and chair of the Research and Engagement Academy notes, “The Academy faculty scholars become part of a learning community designed to support their scholarship and enhance their ability to submit for external funding. This learning community extends beyond the one semester workshops. Already, last year’s Academy alumni are reaching out to this year’s scholars.” Many of the alumni are participating in advanced professional development focused on resubmitting proposals, developing writing circles and managing grant awards.

Scholars in the Academy learn how to build relationships with funders from a range of faculty experts who serve on panels, roundtable discussions, and from their scholarly coach. “This year we are fortunate to have the head of the National Science Foundation’s Education Directorate meeting with Academy Scholars as a part of our April workshop notes Williams.

Dr. Janet Campbell, co-chair of the Academy and Research Professor Emerita, states, “The overwhelming success of this program is a testament to the superb scholars at UNH. I am very pleased to be a part of this dynamic learning community and have enjoyed working with faculty members across the entire campus to help support their success and advance their scholarship.”

This year’s class of the Research and Engagement Academy includes:

  • Sajay Arthanat, Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy, College of Health and Human Services
  • Cliff Brown, Associate Professor, Sociology, College of Liberal Arts
  • Molly Donovan, Extension Specialist, Community & Economic Development, UNH Cooperative Extension
  • Peter Erickson, Professor, Animal & Nutritional Sciences, Dairy Nutrition Research Center, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
  • Tat Fu, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
  • Majid Ghayoomi, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
  • Thomas Haines, Assistant Professor, English, College of Liberal Arts
  • Iago Hale, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
  • John Halstead, Professor, Natural Resources & the Environment, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
  • Estelle Hrabak, Associate Professor, Molecular, Cellular & Biomedical Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
  • Kelly Kilcrease, Associate Professor, Business, Social Science Division, UNH-Manchester
  • Yaning Li, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
  • Robert Macieski, Associate Professor, History, Humanities Division, UNH-Manchester
  • Elizabeth Mellyn, Assistant Professor, History, College of Liberal Arts
  • Tobey Partch-Davies, Project Director, UNH Institute on Disability
  • Sarah Prescott, Assistant Professor, Chemistry, Science & Technology Division, UNH-Manchester
  • Maya Ravindranath, Assistant Professor, English, College of Liberal Arts
  • Malcolm Smith, Extension Associate Professor/Specialist, Youth & Family Education and Policy, UNH Cooperative Extension
  • Scott Weintraub, Assistant Professor, Languages, Literatures & Cultures, College of Liberal Arts
  • Kang Wu, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

This year’s scholarly coaches include:

  • Jeff Bolster, Associate Professor, History, College of Liberal Arts
  • Janet Campbell, Faculty Co-Chair of the Research and Engagement Academy, and Research Professor Emerita, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, and Office of the Senior Vice Provost, Engagement and Academic Outreach
  • Michele Dillon, Professor/Chairperson, Sociology, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
  • Burt Feintuch, Professor, English, College of Liberal Arts, and Director, UNH Center for Humanities
  • Kevin Gardner, Professor and Faculty Fellow, Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, and Office of the Senior Vice Provost, Research
  • Michael Gass, Professor, Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Services
  • Andrew Houtenville, Associate Professor, Economics, Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and Research Director , UNH Institute on Disability
  • Brad Kinsey, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
  • William McDowell, Professor and Presidential Chair, Natural Resources and the Environment, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
  • Barry Rock, Professor Emeritus, Natural Resources and the Environment, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
  • Michael Swack, Professor, Economics and Management, Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, and Faculty Director, Center on Social Innovation and Finance, The Carsey Institute

Originally published by:

UNH Today