West Chester University, with more than 17,600 students, honored 34 of its professors for their research work at a Friday, April 29 event.

The Spotlight on Faculty Research ceremony celebrated the university’s new Research 2 (R2) status.

The 2-hour event took place in the university’s new Sciences and Engineering Center & The Commons.

The research faculty were given a teacher-scholar award of excellence by Deputy Provost and Vice President for Academic Operations Jeffery Osgood. 

“West Chester has a lot of untapped potential and is starting to realize it,” said Brandon Mitchell, an associate professor of physics, and an award recipient.

The following faculty members were recognized:

Innovation and Leadership

• Amanda Olejarski. Research on Leadership and Ethics in Public Administration.
• Brandon Mitchell. Use of rare-earth-doped gallium nitride for next-generation micro-display and quantum information applications and research—to provide opportunities for academically talented, low-income students in STEM.
• Elizabeth Grillo. Developing two mobile applications to reduce vocal strain for teachers in the classroom.
• Cheryl Neale-McFall. Developing the West Chester University Women’s Leadership Forum to celebrate the daring and dynamic women at WCU.
• Grace Liu. Developing innovative library practices to improve students’ information literacy.
• Anita Foeman and Bessie Lawton. A multi-year DNA Discussion Project to help WCU community members reflect on their ancestral roots and to see how it informs their identity.

Community Solutions

• Michael Boyle. Looking at the role of mental models in shaping attitudes toward gun violence and gun issue activism.
• Simon Condliffe, Matt Saboe and Mia Ocean. Interdisciplinary research projects to investigate the role of community colleges in economic development.
• Julie Tennille and Cheryl Neale–McFall. Securing funding for Education and Programming in Integrated Care (EPIC) and improving WCU’s capacity to train a greater volume of behavioral health students and community providers.
• Amir Golmohamadi and Patricia Davidson. Completing an exploratory study identifying the foodways of people in the region with Cystic Fibrosis.
• Jasmin Tahmaseb-McConatha. Developing programs that promote just and livable communities.

Sustainability

• Megan Heckert. Green infrastructure research, including a study on “Parks and the Pandemic.”
• Kurt Kolainski. Campus-wide sustainability research, including supporting faculty efforts to develop sustainability projects on campus.
• Paul Morgan. Working collaboratively to expand student access to Green STEM education, and linking classroom learning to civic action and Green STEM careers.
• Costance Case, Gretchen Studlien-Webb and Maria Urrutia. Creating Carnival of Ruiin, a dance performance piece and exhibit reusing discarded materials for costuming and set design.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

• Laquana Cooke. Creation of iCAMP Summer Media Academy, introducing Philadelphia School District students to audio, video production, game and web development.
• Alex Cohen. Development of the theory of substitutional empathy, looking at marketplace experiences of consumers with disabilities.
• Elizabeth Foster. Creating wellness initiatives for persons with disabilities, including Camp Abilities and the Ram Tough Fitness Program.
• Lauri Hyers. Researching the social psychology of gender, sexuality and discrimination.
• Rachel McMullin and Kerry Walton. Working with students with autism in academic libraries.

Student Development.

• Maria Cabrera.  Developing an “Online Tool for Language Placement”and contribution to an introductory Spanish language textbook that exposes students to the connections between language and culture.
• Daniel Ilaria. Implementing the WCU Woodrow Wilson Foundation Program, for individuals with a deep commitment to teaching mathematics or science in a high-need school district.
• Rodney Mader, Lisa Marano, Shannon Mrkich and Josh Auld. Developing and executing WCU’s First Year Experience courses, providing WCU students with a basic platform to plan their growth and development.

The April 29th event also recognized nine students as 2022 Student Research & Creative Activity awardees.

West Chester University, a public institution founded in 1871, offers more than 200 undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs in more than 50 fields of study.

R2 Research Designation

The R2 designation was given by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education last year, indicating there is “high research activity” at the university.

It reclassifies the university from its former M1 status (Master’s Colleges & Universities—Larger Programs) to R2 (Doctoral Universities—High Research Activity).

To earn the classification, a school must have awarded at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees in an academic year and accrued at least $5 million in research expenditures.

In 2020, WCU graduated 24 Ed.D. and D.P.A. students combined. West Chester’s sponsored research funding has been greater than $5 million a year since Fiscal Year 2015. It conducted $6.4 million in research in 2020.

It is only the second public university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to receive the R2 classification.

The new classification was mostly driven by West Chester’s decision to add doctoral programs in clinical psychology, education policy planning and administration, nursing practice and public administration.

Osgood emphasized, however, that teaching the students remains the university’s primary goal.

“We take research seriously here, but teaching is still our mission,” he said. “That’s the message we don’t want to get lost as part of this celebration.”

Under R2, professors must teach four undergraduate or three graduate classes per semester. Students will usually be involved in the professor’s research.

 “The hallmark of our faculty is their emphasis on the teacher-scholar model,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Bernotsky. “Research performed by our faculty enhances their teaching to students as well as their own teaching excellence.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about West Chester University’s celebration of its R2 research status.

Find out more about West Chester University.