UIS honors Professor Sharon Graf with the Harry and Deborah Berman Sabbatical Award

The University of Illinois Springfield’s Harry and Deborah Berman Sabbatical Award has been presented to Sharon Graf, professor in the Sociology/Anthropology department. She will receive $3,000 to support her research during her sabbatical leave.

Graf’s sabbatical plan is to conduct a second phase of ethnographic field research in Oceania that will contribute to the scholarly body of knowledge on the cultural practices—including art, music, the performing arts and seafaring—of the inhabitants of the Pacific Island region. 

Furthermore, Graf’s research will expand our scholarly understanding of ways of knowing while travelling on sea as opposed to on land. Her 2010‐11 experience of sailing the vast expanse of the Pacific made her keenly aware of the ocean environment and the knowledge required to navigate and to thrive in it.  One outcome of Graf’s sabbatical voyage was her 2013 music composition “West by South,” performed by the UIS Chorus in 2013. This sabbatical leave will give Graf the opportunity to contribute further original insight to academic discourse on embodiment, performance and human relationships with the sea, sharing her findings in articles, courses, blogs, creative works and public presentations.

Faculty who are awarded sabbatical leaves may apply for supplemental funding to assist with sabbatical expenses. Awards are granted through a competitive review and selection process.

The award was made possible thanks to the generosity of Harry and Deborah Berman. Harry served as a gerontology professor, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, provost and interim chancellor. Deborah served in a variety of central administrative positions at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.  

Graf says she is “honored to receive the Berman Award and thankful for Harry and Deborah’s support of my work on the UIS campus since I arrived in 2001.”

UIS Associate Professor Lynn Fisher receives fellowship to conduct archaeological research in Germany this fall

University of Illinois Springfield Associate Professor of Anthropology Lynn Fisher has been awarded a Mercator Fellowship for archaeological research at the University of Kiel in Germany this fall.

The fellowship is part of a grant-funded project on Social Dimensions of Technological Change, a collaboration between the University of Kiel, the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology and the Archaeological State Museum Schloss Gottorf (Schleswig). The project is funded by the German Science Foundation.

The fellowship supports two months in residence in Kiel during Fisher’s sabbatical in fall 2021, plus a return trip the following year to participate in an international workshop the collaborators will plan together. The workshop’s findings will be published as a book.   

“I will work with Berit Eriksen, scientific director of the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, to organize an international workshop on regional and chronological variation in flint mining practices during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Europe,” Fisher said. “Eriksen and I both specialize in the study of ancient technologies and what they tell us about past social dynamics and social change.”

Flint mines are an important, but often ignored aspect of prehistoric life during these time periods. The stone dug out of mines and quarries was used to make tools used in everyday life, and also connects to social identities, gender, transmission of knowledge and socioeconomic changes such as craft specialization. 

Eriksen and her colleagues, who direct the Social Dimensions of Technological Change project, invited Fisher to work with them when they heard she was planning to compare and contrast flint mines and quarries to put her own excavations of a quarry in southern Germany in context. 

“My hope is to learn a lot more about how quarries and mines vary, including some where skilled toolmakers made highly standardized products and others that were much less standardized, and to understand what those differences are telling us about ancient societies and social change,” Fisher said. 

UIS Professor Richard Gilman-Opalsky writes new book on “The Communism of Love”

University of Illinois Springfield Political Science Professor Richard Gilman-Opalsky has written a new book on “The Communism of Love: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Exchange Value.”

According to the publisher, the book explores the meaning and power of love from Ancient Greece to the present day. Gilman-Opalsky argues that what is called “love” by the best thinkers to have approached the subject is in fact the beating heart of communism—that is, communism understood as a human yearning and way of life, not as a form of government. Along the way, Gilman-Opalsky demonstrates that the capitalist method of assigning value to things is incapable of appreciating what humans treasure most. Exchange value cannot appropriately value the experiences and relationships that make our lives worth living. Capital can only value love by turning it into a commodity, but the commodification of love destroys it.

“The Communism of Love” follows the struggles of love in different contexts of race, class, gender and sexuality, and shows how the aspiration for love is as close as we may get to a universal communist aspiration.

“In this beautifully crafted book, Richard Gilman-Opalsky persuasively uncovers and explores an ‘irreducibly antagonistic relationship of love to capitalist exchange value.’ Refusing to submit to the all-too-common reduction of love to sex, he points to the emergence of communist love during moments of uprising and resistance,” writes George Katsiaficas, author of “The Subversion of Politics,” in reviewing the book.

Gilman-Opalsky, the 2018 University Scholar award winner, is the author of five previous books, including “Specters of Revolt” and “Precarious Communism.” He earned his Ph.D. in political science from The New School for Social Research in 2006. He also earned master’s and bachelor's degrees in philosophy from The New School for Social Research and Hofstra University, respectively.

“The Communism of Love” is published by AK Press and will be released on Dec. 1, 2020. The book can be purchased on the publisher’s website at akpress.org/communismoflove.html, on Amazon and from other online retailers.

For more information, contact Gilman-Opalsky at 217-206-8328 or rgilm3@uis.edu.

Assistant Professor Sudeep Sharma named the University Scholar at UIS

Sudeep Sharma, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, marketing and operations at the University of Illinois Springfield, has been named University Scholar for 2020. The award, considered the university system’s highest faculty honor, recognizes outstanding teaching and scholarship. Only one faculty member receives the annual award at UIS.

Sharma joined UIS in Fall 2015, after already having established himself as a top scholar in his areas of negotiation and conflict management, personality and individual differences and emotions in the workplace. In particular, Sharma's work in the area of individual differences in negotiation has challenged the status quo. The consensus among negotiation scholars has been that individual differences play a limited role in negotiation effectiveness, but Sharma's research has proven otherwise.

Although at a relatively early stage in his career, Sharma has already had numerous impactful publications in leading and high-quality journals in organizational behavior. These journals include Human Performance, Emotion, Organizational Psychology Review and the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, among others. Sharma's research has been cited 311 times per Google Scholar, and he has six papers with at least six citations each. So far, Sharma has published nine peer-reviewed journal articles and 19 peer-reviewed conference papers.

“Much of Sharma's work is lead-authored, which is a testament to the significant contributions that he has made to each manuscript,” his nominator said. 

Although Sharma's track record of published research is impressive, it is worth noting that he has a substantial pipeline of work that is poised to make additional contributions to his fields of study. He currently has eight manuscripts in development which are targeted to journals such as Psychological Bulletin, Journal of Applied Psychology and Administrative Science Quarterly. These outlets are among the best in the field. Moreover, Sharma regularly presents his research and organizes symposia at the major academic societies in the field of organizational behavior.

Sharma's scholarship has earned him awards, including the Outstanding Article Published in 2013 by the International Association for Conflict Management. More recently, Sharma was awarded a 2020 DAAD (the German Academic Exchange Service) Fellowship to be a visiting scholar at the Institute for Management and Organization at Leuphana University. Only 75-100 scholars from across the globe are selected each year from across diverse areas of research.

“Although research is among the most important endeavors engaged in by university professors, Sharma has also established himself as an excellent teacher,” said his nominator. “Sharma has developed and taught several courses in the Department of Management curriculum. Student assessments of his teaching are very positive, with ratings routinely exceeding averages of the department, college, and university. Thus, Sharma embodies what it means to be a teacher-scholar at UIS.”

At UIS, he teaches courses on organizational behavior, leadership in organizations, negotiation, and HR courses on the topics such as performance management and selection and assessment to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Sharma earned a master’s and doctorate degree in business administration (organization behavior) from Washington University in St. Louis. He also earned a master’s degree in industrial relations and organizational behavior from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

As University Scholar, Sharma will receive $15,000 a year for three years to support research and other scholarly activities. Faculty do not apply for this award; they are nominated by their peers. A committee of senior faculty makes the final selection.

UIS Emeritus Professor Donald Morris writes a new book exploring “Taxation in Utopia”

Donald Morris, a University of Illinois Springfield emeritus professor of accountancy, has written a new book, “Taxation in Utopia: Required Sacrifice and the General Welfare.” 

At its core, taxation is an ethical question. It requires people to sacrifice for the benefit of others, whether or not they also benefit themselves. Morris’ book is an interdisciplinary exploration of utopian taxation and how it provides a novel approach to examining relations between a state's view of the general welfare and the sacrifices this view requires of its citizens. 

“I chose utopias for the same reasons that investigators exploring other problems control variables, adopt simplifying assumptions, and develop conceptual models,” Morris said. “And while moral concerns permeating taxation are illustrated in the context of utopian literature, this is not an argument for a stand-alone tax utopia or a practical treatise on tax reform. Most utopians devote little time to describing their pecuniary tax systems.” 

The book traces the moral dimensions of taxation through the utopian writings of political theorists and novelists including Henry David Thoreau, H.G. Wells, Thomas More, Leo Tolstoy, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, George Orwell, B. F. Skinner, Jonathan Swift, Plato, Karl Marx and many more. 

“This is an extremely well researched and thorough exploration of utopian literature, effectively back to the beginning of the written word,” said Jennifer Bird-Pollan of the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law in reviewing the book. “Morris covers every major work of literature with a utopian element, and works through the tax (both pecuniary and constructive) present in all of these works. His explanation and analysis of economics and doctrine of tax laws is of the highest order.” 

Morris is the author of several books, including “Tax Cheating: Illegal—But Is It Immoral?” He was a Silver Award Winner in the 2012 ForeWord Book of the Year in the Political Science Category, and a Category Finalist in the 2013 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, presented by Hopewell Publications. 

“Taxation in Utopia: Required Sacrifice and the General Welfare” was published by the State University of New York System (SUNY) Press in September 2020 and is available for purchase as a hardcover or electronic book from Amazon, Google and other retailers. For more information on the book, visit taxationutopia.com.

UIS professor’s encyclopedia on LGBTQ Politics named one of Choice’s top summer picks

University of Illinois Springfield Professor of Political Science Jason Pierceson’s “LGBTQ Americans in the U.S. Political System: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Voters, Candidates, and Officeholders” was recently featured on Choice’s top ten editors’ pick list for June 2020. 

Choice is a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. 

The two-volume work, published in November 2019, includes introductory essays on LGBTQ candidates, elected officials and voters, as well as more than 250 entries on important events, issues, organizations and people in the LGBTQ rights movement. It also includes a timeline of important events in addition to noteworthy government documents, court cases and speeches by LGBTQ candidates and activists. The encyclopedia covers people and events from the early-twentieth century through the 2018 elections. 

Among the politicians profiled in the work are pathbreaking candidates and officials such as José Sarria, Kathy Kozachenko, Elaine Noble, Harvey Milk, Danica Roem, Kate Brown, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Kyrsten Sinema, Sharice Davids and Pete Buttigieg. Activists profiled include Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, Marsha P. Johnson, Cleve Jones, Larry Kramer and Bayard Rustin. 

Pierceson is the author or co-author of several books on same-sex marriage and sexuality and politics, including “Same-Sex Marriage in the Americas: Policy Innovation for Same-Sex Relationships,” “Courts, Liberalism and Rights: Gay Law and Politics in the United States and Canada,” “Same-Sex Marriage in the United States: The Road to the Supreme Court” and “Sexual Minorities in Politics: An Introduction.” 

Pierceson’s commentary and writings have appeared in such media outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report. He has also served as an expert witness in federal civil rights litigation.

UIS online leader Vickie Cook honored with the UPCEA Central Region Outstanding Leader award

Vickie Cook, executive director of online, professional and engaged learning at the University of Illinois Springfield has been recognized by the University Professional Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) as the 2020 Central Region Outstanding Leader.

The Central Region Outstanding Leadership Award recognizes a UPCEA Central Region

professional member who has exhibited outstanding leadership and service within the region and their university. The award recognizes leadership in UPCEA service activities at the state and regional levels and demonstration of a strong commitment to professional, continuing and online education within the member’s institution and the region. According to UPCEA, Cook has exhibited each of these characteristics in her work at the University of Illinois Springfield, as well as in the field of professional, continuing and online education across the central region. 

“I am honored to be recognized by my colleagues across the region to receive the 2020 Central Region Outstanding Leadership Award,” Cook said. “I am privileged to work with a great team of professionals at the University of Illinois Springfield and am pleased that the organization which provides leadership to the institutions across North America has chosen to honor me in this way during 2020 when professional, continuing, and online learning is so important globally.” 

 UPCEA provides leadership in the areas of professional, continuing and online education to institutions across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The central region, one of five regions in North America, is comprised of Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin in the U.S. and Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nunavant in Canada.

UIS Professor Lan Dong in the spotlight again as Disney's newest Mulan takes center stage

Ten years after her book about Mulan was published, UIS English Professor Lan Dong, Ph.D. is still sought out for her expertise on the subject. With Disney’s live-action film, Mulan, released to Disney Plus earlier this month, Dong again found herself in the national spotlight.

She said the inquiries began in earnest when the Mulan trailers were released in 2019.

“I was interviewed by a reporter for The New York Times in February,” Dong said. “They asked questions about Mulan’s story, her trajectory moving from a Chinese heroine to a well-known name among English speakers; and of her global capacity because of the 1998 Disney animation.”

Dong went on to write an essay for History Extra, the website for BBC History Magazine, was featured in the Wall Street Journal, Vox Media, and Radio Free Asia, sat on a Kissinger Institute Panel, and conducted a radio interview with the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC.)

“In February and March, I had to remind the reporters for NYT and WSJ they had attended the premier of the movie and I hadn’t,” Dong smiled. “I could not comment on the movie itself.”

Though she was almost a Disney insider.

Disney invited Dong to sit on a panel of Chinese cultural experts in 2017 as production for the film was taking shape. Other commitments kept her from being able to join at that time.

She says she is intrigued by Disney’s choice to bypass the standard theatrical release and pave a new route by offering the film on Premier Access through its streaming platform Disney Plus.

The movie’s release came with controversy as film credits included gratitude for filming in the Xinjiang Province, which has been in the news for its alleged human rights abuses against the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. The film’s lead actress, Liu Yifei also came under fire for her support for Hong Kong Police who are cracking down on pro-democracy demonstrators. Dong said she is not surprised the film is mired in controversy.

“The U.S.-China relationship is full of tension right now. It is in a very precarious place,” Dong said.

Going back to her book, Mulan’s Legend and Legacy in China and the United States, Dong says it was published by an academic press, and has inspired additional scholarly work, but it was also written for general readers.

“I wanted the book to go beyond experts in my field,” she said. “I always wanted it to be more than that. It is meant for readers who have an interest in strong women and in Asian American culture. I’m glad to see it is still relevant. I still love her story.”

And she plans to watch it on Disney Plus soon.

Graham Peck named the Wepner Distinguished Professor of Lincoln Studies at UIS

Lincoln scholar Graham Peck has been named the Wepner Distinguished Professor of Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield. 

A virtual Ceremony of Investiture honoring Peck was held on Thursday, Sept. 24 where he received a medallion that symbolizes his position as a distinguished professor. Investitures are a special celebration of academic excellence. At UIS, when a professor is chosen to be an endowed chair or distinguished professor, an investiture takes place. 

“I’m confident that Peck, along with Michael Burlingame, who is the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies, will continue to establish UIS and Springfield as the place to learn about Illinois’ favorite son,” said UIS Interim Chancellor Karen Whitney, while speaking at the ceremony. “Their efforts will be bolstered when The Center for Lincoln Studies opens early next year at UIS.” 

Other speakers at investiture included Provost Dennis Papini, Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Science Michael Lemke and Burlingame. Following the remarks, Peck presented a lecture on “Abraham Lincoln and the Making of an Antislavery Nation.” 

Peck came to UIS in 2019 after spending 17 years at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1991 from California State University, Hayward, and received his master’s and doctorate in American history from Northwestern University. Graham’s published scholarship – which includes multiple articles and the book “Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas and the Battle Over Freedom” – focuses on antebellum American political history. 

The Wepner Distinguished Professorship was established at UIS as the result of a $1.2 million unrestricted estate gift from a Springfield couple, Wilbur and Margaret Wepner, longtime supporters of UIS. The funds are used for scholarships and the Wepner position. As a member of the Committee for Higher Education in Central Illinois, Wilbur Wepner helped found Sangamon State University in 1969. 

“On behalf of the university, I thank the Wepners for their generous donation,” Whitney said. “Their memory and passionate dedication for their community lives on in their gift. This professorship helps UIS realize one of its primary strategic goals, academic excellence. Philanthropists like the Wepners strengthen UIS.”

UIS professor emerita of accountancy honored with experienced leader award from the Illinois CPA Society

University of Illinois Springfield Professor Emerita of Accountancy Carol Jessup has been honored with the experienced leader award from the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS).

The award is part of the society’s 2020 Women to Watch Awards, in partnership with the society's women’s committee and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.

The experienced leader award is presented annually to recognize local female professionals who have made significant contributions to the accounting profession, their firms and the development of future women leaders.

“It’s an honor and privilege to recognize the inspiring actions and achievements of these remarkable women,” said ICPAS president and CEO Todd Shapiro in a statement. “We are fortunate to have such dedicated leaders striving to increase gender equality in the CPA profession and paving the way for future generations of women in accounting and finance.”

Jessup retired from teaching at UIS in May 2020. She primarily taught auditing and governmental and nonprofit accounting. Her research interests include fraud and online learning, and she has also written questions for the Uniform CPA Exam.

In addition to her academic positions, Jessup serves on the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln’s audit committee, is the editor-in-chief of The North American Accounting Studies research journal, and served as former chair of the editorial board for the Journal of Government Financial Management of the Association of Government Accountants. Jessup is also a frequent speaker and lecturer at national, regional, and state conferences.

Previously, Jessup held several positions in state and local government, served on the team that implemented GAAP in Illinois, and provided expert witness testimony in utility regulatory proceedings. Jessup received her doctorate in business administration from Saint Louis University and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in accounting from the former Sangamon State University, which is now UIS. She is a licensed CPA in Illinois and a Certified Fraud Examiner.

This year's honorees will be recognized at the ICPAS Leadership Recognition and Awards Celebration on Sept. 17 as well as be featured guests at the ICPAS Women’s Leadership Forum on Oct. 23. Both events will be virtual this year.

Ken Owen: On Pace for a Healthier Lifestyle

Ken Owen, UIS Associate Professor of history, recently placed 4th overall and 1st in his age category in the Prairie Star 5K, held earlier this month on the UIS campus. 

“If you would have told me a few years ago that I would be running a 5K voluntarily, of my own free will, I would not have believed you,” joked Owen who buckled down into a healthier lifestyle after the birth of his daughter almost three years ago.

In fact, the 2018 Prairie Star 5K was his first race ever. Since then, he’s been a regular face at The Recreation and Athletic Center at UIS.

“I had been going to TRAC regularly and using a stationary bike. But during a conference in Cleveland, there were no stationary bikes, so I started using the treadmill,” he said.

Owen downloaded a fun-inspired Couch to 5K app on his phone when he returned to Springfield and headed back to TRAC, this time opting for the indoor track.
So far, he’s dropped between 80 and 90 pounds and feels better than ever.

“I’m adamant exercise was not the primary factor,” Owen said. “It was about controlling my eating. Exercise was just another way of getting into a healthy habit where I could feel the benefits of losing weight.”

Owen credits meal planning, shopping for and cooking heathier foods, and tracking his meals for most of his success. 

“I found that I liked roasted vegetables more than I thought. I learned to cook better,” Owen said. “When you’re limiting what you eat, you want to enjoy it more.”

And he has learned to enjoy running, and regularly runs more than a 5K.

“My ultimate goal is to break 20 minutes,” said Owen, whose Prairie Star 5K time this year was 20:22. “I’m frustratingly close, but close enough that I should get there soon.”

A worldwide pandemic may have thrown a wrench into his regular workout schedule, but Owen said that running gave him a sense or routine and the activity was a welcome change from being stuck at home. He appreciated the safety measures at the Prairie Star 5K.

“It was very carefully organized,” Owen said. “We never congregated in groups, there was a staggered start, and we lined up in rows that were 7 feet apart from other runners, 10 feet apart front and back.”

His advice to those thinking about getting started is simply to take the first step. 

“Don’t feel like you have to go fast. Run slowly, your body will adapt and you’ll get quicker naturally,” he said. “Go at a pace that is slow, then slow that down a bit.”

“A mile done slowly is a better than one you don’t run at all.”

Collaboration Success

The moment the Illinois “stay at home” order went into effect on March 21, the wheels were turning in Bruce Sommer’s head. Sommer, UIS’ Director of Economic Development and Innovation knew businesses would have questions on how to handle the temporary shutdown, so he gathered a team of experts to field those questions online.

“In the beginning, there were so many questions and so many things going on,” Sommer said. “People were concerned, so our first webinars were about the relief programs for businesses, how to take your business online and the economic impact of a shutdown. No one was providing them that information.”

Sommer used his own personal Zoom account for the first free webinar which limited his capacity to 100 attendees. Those spots filled within the first minute. The next week he used a UIS Zoom account, and attendance surpassed 100.

Since that time, Sommer and his rotating team of experts have hosted nearly 1,500 attendees with weekly webinars on business, education, health and the economy. Some topics came about as suggestions from frequent flier attendees.

“The amazing thing is that, for many of the panelists, I’ve asked them to participate on very short notice and no one has turned me down. We typically have five panelists each week. The collective collaboration around this has been my greatest reward,” Sommer said.

The weekly webinars are a collaboration between the UIS Office of Economic Development and Innovation, Innovate Springfield, and the UIS colleges of Business and Management and Public Affairs and Administration. Community partners include The Community Health Round Table, SIU School of Medicine, local businesses and state and local government officials.

“When I moved back to Springfield, people in social impact circles within the community felt like UIS was an underutilized resource,” Sommer said. “Through these webinars, we have inserted UIS into the conversations. We have incredible researchers and teachers and the community is craving that leadership."

Sommer said the success of the webinars is directly attributable to the layers of knowledge around the Springfield community and UIS campus. That is what Innovate Springfield, the first hub in the Illinois Innovation Network is about, bringing local resources and collaboration together.

“People came together in a time of crisis,” Sommer said. “It’s a great example of IIN’s goal of working collaboratively at all times.”

Moving forward, webinars will alternate between a business and health focus. Older webinars can be accessed on the UIS Academic Affairs website.

Photography students shift focus to capture pandemic moments

UIS Associate Professor of Communication Kathy Novak, Ph.D., was only a few weeks into  her COM 407 Photojournalism and Photo Documentary Class when Illinois began to shelter in place and UIS students returned home to begin remote learning.

The already-online class did not have to adjust for remote learning, but assignments had to be modified immediately.

“Their weekly photo assignments normally send them out into the public to photograph people, places and events,” Novak said. “I encourage them to meet people, introduce themselves and take photographs, these are all professional skills. Meeting and photographing people are central to what this course is about.”

But in the midst of a pandemic, when the world is essentially shut down, meeting people in public spaces would prove to be a challenge.

“A teacher’s goal is to impress and exercise the content of the course, and I was worried that wasn’t going to happen,” Novak said.

But it did.

Olivia Mitchell, a 2020 PAR graduate and student in the class, was worried whether she would be able to complete assignments on lighting, profiles and angles.

“I was scared to be outside and be around people,” Mitchell said. “But I let go of the fear and decided to take pictures of any opportunity I saw.”

One of those opportunities was her 30th birthday, when she snapped photographs of her niece and nephew playing outdoors.

Mitchell admits the pandemic closures forced her to re-think her dynamic angles assignment, as she had originally planned to take pictures from the top of the Wyndham Hotel.

“I still went downtown. It was so empty,” she said. “Since I couldn’t go inside, I laid down on the ground to take the photo looking up. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, I still accomplished everything I was supposed to do.”

Novak said when students turned in their final project photo essays, she was amazed at the stark moments that were captured; photos that tell the story of how the world stood still and how life was altered by COVID-19.

Some of those photos included a hospital laryngoscope prepped and ready to be used on patients, a pop-up COVID-19 testing site, social distancing while grocery shopping, volunteers delivering meals and the empty streets of downtown Chicago during rush hour.

“Even with the added restraint on their daily lives, students were able still to chronicle what it has meant to live during the COVID-19 outbreak, to create visual work of consequence,” Novak said.

A sampling of this important work can be found on the UIS Communication Department Facebook page. Mitchell’s work is also featured on the NPR Illinois website.

“I learned that I loved to take photographs,” Mitchell said. “People may read the story, but they will always look at the photos. A picture really is worth one-thousand words.”

UIS honors Associate Professor Donna Bussell with the Harry and Deborah Berman Sabbatical Award

The University of Illinois Springfield’s Harry and Deborah Berman Sabbatical Award has been presented to Donna Bussell, associate professor of English.

Bussell’s sabbatical plan is to research library archives on the liturgies for Mary Magdalene in medieval England, highlighting religious orders for communities of men and of women. Little research has been done on the figure of the Magdalene during the early and high middle ages, when religious practices were in Latin. Secondarily, she will explore the value of digital humanities methods for tracking multiple manuscripts and different narratives.

While travel is restricted due to COVID-19, Bussell will utilize digital tools and techniques.

“Her work will form the foundation for her next book project, and will also impact her teaching, as she continues to lead the development of a digital humanities curriculum at UIS,” said Keenan Dungey, UIS associate vice chancellor for research and institutional effectiveness.

Faculty who are awarded sabbatical leaves may apply for supplemental funding to assist with sabbatical expenses. Awards are granted through a competitive review and selection process.

The award was made possible thanks to the generosity of Harry and Deborah Berman. Harry served as a gerontology professor, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, provost and interim chancellor. Deborah served in a variety of central administrative positions at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Chris Lowe: Athletic performance on and off the field

University of Illinois Springfield athletes may be at home, but during remote learning they were still actively training with athletics staff and preparing for their next season. UIS Director of Strength and Conditioning Chris Lowe had played a large role in that.

“We’ve been using an online software program, and the athletes have an app on their phone that is really user friendly,” Lowe said. “Normally they would be on campus training with me, and I could make changes. We have had to be extremely creative with at-home workouts. Not every person has the luxury of a weight room and access to weights. Our staff has done a great job developing programs for at-home settings.”

Lowe said athletic staff is concentrating on more than reps and sets, they are focusing on the athlete as a whole. The app allows for connections beyond just physical workouts. It comprises overall wellness including mental, physical and emotional well-being.

Athletes had weekly challenges to learn new skills while at home, such as cooking which is tied directly into nutrition, an important part of being an athlete. Lowe said cooking proved to be motivational.

Zoom has also helped UIS athletes connect with their teammates. “It allows for that face-to-face interaction, which is great to see in coaching, it’s that human interaction you don’t get in text messages,”

Lowe said. He is impressed with the dedication UIS athletes have demonstrated at home. “They take a step every day to be champions, to reach a goal. This has not deterred them, “Lowe said. “That is a testament to them and the coaching staff.”

Lowe also said the virus has opened doors for athletic staff from throughout the Great Lakes Valley Conference to connect and learn from each other. “For the first time ever, we had a Zoom session with all of the coaches in the GLVC to learn from each other, how each one operates and how it differs from school to school. Lowe also recently attended the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association online convention. We all still want to get better in our profession and there is so much more communication than we have had in the past.”

With finals over, Lowe said athletes are on a summer schedule with no mandatory Countable Athletic Related Activity (CARA) hours. He is hopeful the fall semester will resume and with it, fall sports.

“When that comes up, we are being realistic and optimistic,” he said. “We can only control our response and that is a huge mental piece of this puzzle. I remind them of our mission statement which is to be the best version of themselves as a person.”

UIS professors part of a $500,000 USDA grant studying the use of pesticides in urban agricultural communities

Two University of Illinois Springfield professors, in collaboration with professors at Tuskegee University in Alabama, have received a three year $500,000 United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to assess the risk of pesticide use and air dispersion in urban agricultural communities.

UIS Assistant Professor of Public Health Egbe Egiebor and Associate Professor of Public Health Dorine Brand will receive about $168,000 from the overall grant awarded to Tuskegee University.

Due to urban growth, there are greater populations at the edge of agricultural land. The study will evaluate the present methods for monitoring and modeling the atmospheric spread of pesticide pollutants under various weather conditions, identify hotspots and assess the vulnerability of affected communities.

“We are really excited to conduct this study,” Egiebor said. “It is the first time a project like this will be facilitated in two different agro-ecological zones with different production systems. This study will be conducted in two different locations, Alabama and Illinois.”

According to Egiebor, farmlands in the United States have shrunk by 215 million acres since 1954 because of urbanization. Residents living at the proximity of farmlands have reported problems with odors, noise, dust, pesticide sprays as well as health problems associated with agricultural operations.

“In particular, the use of pesticides causes contamination that is transmitted via surface runoff, groundwater and airborne residues,” Egiebor said. “Overwhelming evidence shows that pesticides adversely affect humans and other living organisms as well as the environment.”

Commonly used pesticides have been linked with birth defects, organ damage, developmental issues, psychological issues, different cancers and even death.

According to Brand, the study will explore the links between health effects and pesticides, while educating those communities most impacted by them.

“The project will contribute to sustainable air quality management for health and environment protection in the urban-agriculture interface and will improve long term planning and management of pesticide risk and its impacts on the environment as well as communities,” Brand said.

UIS graduate students will have an opportunity to take part in the research and will be mentored and trained in many aspects of the study.

“Students will gain valuable experiential learning by taking part in a federally-funded research study,” Brand said.

Strength in numbers

It would be nearly impossible to have a health class without acknowledging the elephant in the room, COVID-19.

Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Angela Doehring said one of her first assignments for students in her EXR352 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention class this semester was to research a hot health topic in the news. Nearly every student chose to write about Coronavirus.

“The very first week of class we discussed a novel virus originating in China,” Doehring said. “Even though this was January and there were no confirmed cases in the United States yet, it was just this strange, unknown virus in China.”

Doehring said tracking the spread of the virus in real time is helping teach students that exercise science and health and wellness are integrally linked to disease prevention, infections and epidemiology.

The virus is providing extra opportunities for learning. Doehring’s students can receive extra credit for participating in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webinars. Many have logged in to learn about social distancing and the spread of the disease.

But while extra opportunities for learning is positive, the loss of the annual UIS Health and Wellness Fair on campus was a blow for her classes.

Each year, students in EXR233 Personal Health and Wellness class create poster presentations and health assessments they deliver during the fair. “We had to figure out how to do a virtual health fair,” Doehring said. Students had to create their posters and make a video of themselves sharing it. Everyone has had different approaches. It’s been interesting how you envision it and then how someone interprets it.”

Another important part of the Health and Wellness Fair presentation was the physical assessments that accompanied it for the other EXR classes like EXR 412 Exercise Management for Special Populations.

“Originally the whole class would work together to plan out one or two assessments to deliver at the health fair. Instead, I let students take the lead at home, choose one assessment they’ve done and perform it on someone in their home and take a video of it,” Doehring said. “Students had to assess the individual, just like they would have at the Health Fair, and explain how they could do better or how it applied to their overall health.”

Doehring said with remote learning, she let her students help direct how the classes would work best for them.

“I put a survey out to my students to see if they wanted the class to be synchronous with zoom meetings at the same time, or asynchronous with a video or Powerpoint each week so they could work at their own pace,” she said. Doehring said her students chose asynchronous learning to work at their own pace. They can log in anytime, and most students are working ahead.

“It seems to be working well,” she said. “But I miss the face-to-face comradery and students interacting with each other. That’s what I miss, classroom discussion, that is the part of teaching that I enjoy most, the student interaction.”

Doehring said despite the initial challenge, both she and students in the class are feeling accomplished and she has tapped into COVID-19 as a teaching tool.

“From a health promotion standpoint, what they’ve learned is playing out in real life, and they are learning the importance of disease and early detection,” Doehring said. “It’s a real-life invaluable lesson.”

UIS faculty members receive awards for teaching and service; tenure, promotions and sabbaticals announced

The University of Illinois Springfield held a virtual Faculty Honors Reception on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Chancellor Susan Koch and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Dennis Papini presided over the Zoom ceremony honoring faculty members who have been recommended for tenure and/or promotion, been awarded sabbaticals or granted emerita/emeritus status. Four major awards – the Pearson Faculty Award, the Spencer Faculty Service Award, the Faculty Excellence Award and the Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award - were also presented.

The Pearson Faculty Award for outstanding teaching was presented to Atul Agarwal, professor of management information systems. The award recognizes a faculty member whose performance exemplifies UIS’ commitment to excellence in teaching and who stands among the very best teachers on campus. Such a teacher both informs and inspires students, giving them the knowledge and values with which they may become productive and enlightened citizens. The award was established by a gift from Emmet and Mary Pearson, longtime benefactors of the campus.

Agarwal joined UIS in 2009. Since then, he has taught many undergraduate and graduate courses in the operations management and management information systems areas. He has excellent teaching evaluation ratings that are above department, college and university percentages. Students describe Agarwal as being “very responsive” and “one of the best professors I’ve had…at UIS.” His teaching philosophy is well articulated and rests on five pillars of educational excellence to: create a learner-centered environment, encourage active learning, create “learned” vs. “high grade” individuals, encourage learning with fun and integrate new knowledge from scholarly work into student learning. He also applies great teaching innovation in his classes through his creation of class simulations that encourage experiential learning.

The Spencer Faculty Service Award was given to Tena Helton, associate professor of English and modern languages. Honoring Robert Spencer, founding president of Sangamon State University, this award recognizes faculty who best exemplify the ideal of the “professor-citizen” through public service and service to the academic community.

Helton joined UIS in 2005, and over the subsequent 15 years she has completed a record of exceptional service at all levels of the university. She has held numerous leadership roles in the Department of English & Modern Languages that include chairing the department for seven years, chairing eight search committees, being the director of first-year writing for seven years and director of graduate studies for four years. She has served the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences on the executive committee, academic advising council and as dean’s fellow. At the university level, Helton has chaired the general education council and general education review committee. She has also served two terms on the campus senate and been a member of the graduate council and tenure review committee. At the University of Illinois System level, Helton has represented UIS on the arts & humanities steering committee. The review committee noted the numerous committees that Helton has chaired and the important, time-consuming committees of which she has been a member.

Helton is also an active participant in her professional discipline. She was a member of the MLA committee for the status of graduate students in the profession for three years and since 2006, she has been a moderator or presider at four conferences. Helton has provided service to the community as a discussion leader or panelist at the Vachel Lindsay Association, Decatur Public Library, Chatham Public Library and the Sangamo Club. In addition, she has been a moderator and scorer at several of the Rochester High/Junior High Scholastic Bowls and been a coach for the first Lego League numerous times.

The Faculty Excellence Award was presented to Heather Bailey, associate professor of history. The award recognizes mid- and late-career colleagues who best exemplify the ideal of the teacher-scholar and whom faculty recognize as role models, based on sustained accomplishments in teaching and scholarship at the University of Illinois Springfield. The award is funded through the generosity of Wilbur and Margaret Wepner.

Bailey came to UIS in 2002, and since that time has taught 21 different lower division, upper division and graduate classes for the Department of History and Capital Scholars Honors Program. Associate Professor Elizabeth Kosmetatou, a colleague who has observed her teaching, describes Bailey as an enthusiastic teacher with the highest standards who incorporates her scholarship into her courses. Bailey is further described as having vast knowledge that enables her to move seamlessly between disciplines. In addition, she sometimes translates primary source material into English so that students with be able to access this valuable information. A graduate student, Sabrina Miller, describes Bailey as having a passion for history that helped to foster “the intellectual phoenix” in her.

Bailey also has an active research program that has produced two books of which she is the sole author: “The Public Image of Eastern Orthodoxy: France and Russia, 1848-1870” (2020) and “Orthodoxy, Modernity, and Authenticity: The Reception of Ernest Renan’s ‘Life of Jesus’ in Russia” (2008). Since 2017, she has completed five sole authored, peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Since 2002, she has given 14 sole authored, peer-reviewed presentations at national conferences and an international presentation in France. In addition, Bailey has reviewed numerous books and manuscripts. She is currently providing service to her profession as an executive board member for the Association for the Study of Eastern Christian History and Culture, and she has engaged the Springfield community through presentations at the Springfield Art Association and German-American Club.

Donna Bussell, associate professor of English and modern languages, was honored with the Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award. The award was established by Burks Oakley II, who helped launch UIS’ online programs and was also in attendance at the event. The Oakley Award recognizes UIS faculty members whose performance exemplifies the institution’s commitment to excellence in online teaching.

Bussell came to UIS in 2005, and she has taught many online courses in the Department of English & Modern Languages. She places high emphases on organization, communication, creating a welcoming atmosphere for students, and engagement through discussion forums in her online courses. In addition, she exemplifies qualities of an instructor who is student-centered. The use of course components that engage students to content, students to students and students to faculty are a hallmark of her pedagogy. Her communication and personal engagement in the courses are reflected in the student evaluations and comments from students.

Faculty members Tyrone Dooley, public administration; Jae Ha, communication; Anne-Marie Hanson, environmental studies; Sibel Oktay Karagul, political science; Megan Styles, environmental studies; and Adam Williams, public administration were recommended for tenure and promotion to associate professor. Ahmad Juma’h, associate professor of accountancy, was also recommended for tenure.

Recommended for promotion to full professor were Deborah Anthony, legal studies; David Bertaina, history; Donna Bussell, English & modern languages; Sharon Graf, sociology/anthropology; Layne Morsch, chemistry; Kathy Petitte Novak, communication; Sheryl Reminger, psychology; Dennis Ruez, environmental studies; Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, art, music, & theatre; and Lucia Vazquez, biology.

Faculty members nominated for emeritus status were Rassule Hadidi, management information systems; Carol Jessup, accountancy; Laurel Newman; business administration; Hazel Rozema, communication; and Robert Wright, business administration.

Sabbatical leaves have been recommended for David Bertaina, history; Brytton Bjorngaard, art, music, & theatre; Donna Bussell, English & modern languages; Hua Chen, biology; Richard Gilman-Opalsky, political science; Stephen R. Johnson, chemistry; Michele Miller, psychology; Peter Shapinsky, history; Ann Strahle, communication; and Te-Wei Wang, management information systems.

All promotion, tenure, sabbatical leave, and emerita/emeritus status recommendations are subject to approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Associate Professor Holly Thompson, finding a rhythm

Every morning Associate Professor of Human Development Counseling Holly Thompson goes to work upstairs in her guest bedroom with one of her favorite co-workers, three-year old Xaria. After a brief consultation and a quick hello on Zoom, Xaria heads back downstairs to consult with dad about more pressing issues like toys.

Thompson has found that separation of home and work life has been one of the most difficult challenges of remote learning.

“I’ve not really had to be a mom and a professor at the same time, all day long,” she said. “But now that we are several weeks into it, we are figuring it out. I have a supportive partner, and we have found a rhythm that works for us.

Thompson says her Human Development Counseling faculty and students are also finding their rhythms.

“We were moving into this world as quickly as we could with skill and competence,” she said. “There are a lot of things to factor in when you can’t meet face to face.”

Thompson was referring to clinical counseling skills.

“There was a halt to all of our clinical activities and that was challenging because our students weren’t able to meet with clients,” she said. “It created some interesting challenges. They had to learn telehealth, but we are moving forward.”

The department received HIPAA-approval for their Zoom telehealth portal and students were able to take advantage of free online training curriculum offered by the Professional Education Systems Institute (PESI) to all helping professions such as professional counseling, social work and psychology.

“Technology has improved vastly, but it’s not the same as sitting in the same room. I can’t imagine a way that technology could account for being in the same time and space,” Thompson said. “Zoom isn’t so bad, but there is energy in a room that technology can’t account for, but it will work in this situation.”

Zoom has also been instrumental in keeping things like Campus Senate and job searches moving forward.

“Last week we had a teaching demo and there were 40 to 50 people who logged in. In person, we probably wouldn’t have had that many attendees. It was wonderful to have that level of participation and support. We really didn’t expect that.”

Her advice is to breathe.

“I say it 25 times a day,” Thompson said. “The most important thing to do is just breathe deeply. It’s something we don’t do well. It is something we don't do well normally. In this unique time, we also must have flexibility and allow some space for the unknown and imperfection. We’re moving through this journey, this process where the destination is unknown, but we’ll be tougher in the long run, wherever it is.”

UIS Associate Professor of English Meagan Cass awarded a one-month creative writing fellowship

University of Illinois Springfield Associate Professor of English Meagan Cass was recently awarded a fellowship from the Jentel Foundation to do a one-month creative writing residency at its facility in Wyoming during the summer of 2021. Cass was selected from a group of 275 applicants.

Jentel is located in a rural setting on a working cattle ranch in the Lower Piney Creek Valley approximately 20 miles southeast of Sheridan, Wyoming. Cass will be among the award recipients focusing on their own creative projects at this working retreat for artists and writers. A panel of arts and literary professionals review samples of art work and manuscripts before making final recommendations for residency awards.

“I plan to deeply revise two new stories for the collection I'm currently working on,” Cass said. “One story centers on a group of four women who played soccer together growing up. In the world of the story, their recently deceased mothers send them gifts from the afterlife, which they must help each other decipher. In the second, a woman who has lost her partner finds that her grief takes the form of pink gum and accumulates all over her house. I hope to rework the structure and characterization of both pieces and further locate the stories in terms of place.”

During the four week long residency, Jentel provides communal spaces designated for research, recreation, food preparation and dining. Each artist and writer is offered a private comfortably furnished accommodation and a light airy workspace. Each resident receives a stipend to help defray living expenses during the program. Artists and writers experience unfettered time to allow for thoughtful reflection and meditation on the creative process in a setting that preserves the agricultural and historical integrity of the land.

For more information on the Jentel Artist Residency Program, visit jentelarts.org.