SUNY Empire Spotlight: Nov. 2024
(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — NOVEMBER 25, 2024) The latest news on research efforts, awards, grants, and media appearances from Empire State University faculty and staff.
Lauren Allen, assistant professor in the School for Graduate Studies and Assistant Director of the Center for Autism Advocacy: Research, Education, and Supports, co-authored and presented “Socially valid collaboration and consultation” in “Psychology Essentials for Behavior Analysts.” Allen also presented “Health and mental health equity: A role for higher ed?” at the College Autism Summit in Columbus, Ohio. Allen and Noor Syed, assistant professor and director of CAARES, co-authored and presented “Pursuing higher education systems-level change in the pursuit of inclusivity,” “Universal Design,” and “Neurodiversity in Higher Education.”
Alan Belasen, professor in the School for Graduate Studies, published “Brilliant Leadership – Unlocking the Power of Innovation-Communication.” The book presents a holistic view of what it means to become a successful leader in the transformative digital age. It provides practical strategies and assessment tools for developing the skills essential for communicating with empathy and authenticity, engaging and inspiring others, creating accountability from shared commitments, and sparking learning in a purpose-driven innovation culture. Earlier this year, Belasen and Barry Eisenberg, associate professor in the School for Graduate Studies, published “Transforming Leadership, Improving the Patient Experience.” The book explores the relationships between coordinated care, expert leadership, provider-patient communications, and patient experience. When clinical and nonclinical staff collaborate effectively, health care teams can improve patient outcomes, prevent medical errors, improve efficiency, and increase patient satisfaction. In October 2024, collaborating with Ari Belasen, Southern Illinois University, Alan published “Signaling Trust During Disruptions: Perceived Gender Differences in Trustworthy Leadership Traits” in “Gender in Leadership: An International Journal.” This research article offers methodology for measuring trustworthiness based on transparency, credibility, accountability, and honesty during disruptions and an empirical test for analyzing perceived gender differences in trustworthy leadership traits. Currently, Belasen is working on a new book project “Middle Managers: Bridging the Trust Gap.” The book is presented as a practical guide for leaders and professionals wishing to gain skills for building and maintaining trust in the workplace.
Val Chukhlomin, professor in the School of Business, published “The EMERALD Framework: A practical approach to generative AI integration” at the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.
Herbert Covington, assistant professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Science, published a new paper in “Psychopharmacology.” Covington served as the senior and corresponding author for this paper, titled “Delineating anticipatory arousal from reward consumption: evaluating fixed-intervals in cocaine seeking-taking response chains.”
Michelle Eades-Baird, associate professor in the School for Graduate Studies, and Dan Nyaronga, professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Science, published “Psychological, informational, and material factors impacting girls’ menstruation-related school absenteeism in rural Tanzania,” in the “East African Journal of Education Studies.”
Tom Mackey, professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, facilitated a panel for International Education Week. The panel was hosted in collaboration with North-West University in South Africa and featured educators from other global partner universities. Mackey and Shiela Aird, former director of European academic programs, presented sections of their book “Teaching Digital Storytelling: Inspiring Voices Through Online Narratives,” which connects digital storytelling and metaliteracy to the virtual exchange taught by Mackey, connecting students at SUNY Empire to students in Prague for a collaborative project.
Jenny Mincin, associate professor in the School for Graduate Studies, presented “Dealing with Trauma” and her work with refugees at the Ukraine Accommodation Providers Seminar in Ireland.
Shannon Pritting, director of library services, presented at several regional, national, and international presentations. On October 15, 2024, Pritting, along with Rob Sanders, Christine Paige, Winifred Storms, and Melissa Wells presented “From the Ground Up: Care and Collaboration Through Access and Affordability,” at the Association for Continuing Higher Education Conference. On October 17, 2024, Pritting, along with Cailyn Green, Bernadet DeJonge, and Jennifer Collins, presented “Social Justice OER: From writing to online modules,” at the SUNY OER Summit. On October 29, 2024, Pritting led a featured episode on Research Solutions’ “Bringing Users Back to the Library” series, in which Pritting spoke about Empire State University’s efforts to provide research services to faculty with limited staffing via systems integration and user-oriented platforms and technologies. Pritting also began an invited position as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Educational Technology Systems and recently published an article in the journal: Library Resources and Technical Services titled “A Cohort Model Approach to Addressing Library Accessibility in a Large, Devolved Library System.”
Shaun Richman, program director, published a chapter in a new volume of “Marxist Historian,” by Philip S. Foner, from International Publishers. Richman was asked to contribute to the revised and expanded Foner collection after publishing a review of the posthumously released “History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol. 11” in Jacobin Magazine. The original Foner Reader was edited by SUNY Empire Professor Emeritus Roger Keeran in 1995.
Amy Ruth Tobol, professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Science, published her essay “The Law Students Civil Rights Research Council” in “More Voices of Civil Rights Lawyers,” published by University Press of Florida.
Sarah Valentine, assistant professor in the School of Nursing and Allied Health, presented “Pathways for Community and Hospital Response to Environmental-Pollution Related Health Impacts: A Prototype Logic Model” as part of the Arthur Imperatore Community Forum Fellowship.
Christopher Whann, associate professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Science, participated in a panel “The American Election: What happened, why, and what it means to you,” along with journalists and professors from other institutions. The panel looked at the global impact of the U.S. election results and how people can anticipate changes, particularly in Africa.
Mary Zanfini, Lecturer in the School of Arts and Humanities, presented “Humanistic research with Neurodiverse Adults” at the International Academic Forum 5th Barcelona Conference on Education.