Catawba College faculty members continue to have scholarly papers published or accepted for publication, or have enjoyed professional achievements outside the college. Following are details of their accomplishments. Dr. Forrest Anderson, Associate Professor of English, Associate Provost for Student ...

Catawba College faculty members continue to have scholarly papers published or accepted for publication, or have enjoyed professional achievements outside the college. Following are details of their accomplishments.

Dr. Forrest Anderson, Associate Professor of English, Associate Provost for Student Academic Success, and Acting Dean of Students
Catawba Professor of English, Associate Provost for Student Academic Success, and Acting Dean of Students, Dr. Forrest Anderson, has received word that a grant application he helped author has been successful.  Anderson learned that Catawba received a $7,500 Reacting Endeavor Challenge Grant that will allow him and several colleagues from Catawba to participate as a team in a January 2018 Reacting Consortium and the Winter Conference to be held on the University of Georgia campus.

The Reacting Endeavor Challenge helps institutions develop curriculum for teaching role immersion games as a way to engage students in active learning pedagogies.

Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, Provost, Chair and Professor of Politics
Dr. Michael Bitzer, Provost, Chair and Professor of Politics, along with Dr. Charles Prysby of UNC Greensboro, have had a book chapter entitled “North Carolina: A Growing Partisan Divide” published in the textbook, “The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics.”  The chapter provides an overview of the state politics in North Carolina by focusing on the development of partisan competition in the state, the development of party differences, partisan cleavages and coalitions, and the potential future direction of North Carolina in a divided partisan era.  The textbook, edited by Drs. Charles Bullock of The University of Georgia and Mark Rozell of George Mason University, is currently in its sixth edition.

Dr. Luke Dollar, Chair and Professor of Environment & Sustainability
Dr. Luke Dollar, Chair and Professor of Environment & Sustainability, has raised and received $88,500 to support building an additional new school in Madagascar over the summer and during the 2018-2019 academic year.  These funds will be used to construct the final school in a primary-middle-high school (multi-school) complex that Dollar has helped fundraise for and spearhead, along with fellow partners from the Friends of Madagascar, in Ampalagantsary, Madagascar.  The complex is located near the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, home to the famous Indri (largest living lemur species).  He anticipates Catawba College students who opt to study abroad in Madagascar will assist in the final construction and/or dedication of this school during summer 2018.

Dollar has also had an article entitled “Novel photographic and morphometric records of the Western Falanouc Eupleres major in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar” accepted for publication in “Small Carnivore Conservation.”  The article details the live trapping and camera-trapping study of the elusive and endangered Western Falanouc.

Dr. Gary Freeze, Professor of History
Dr. Gary Freeze was honored during the inaugural presentation of the film, “Charles A. Cannon. A Mind for Business. A Heart for People.” in Kannapolis at the Gem Theatre on October 15.  Freeze was recognized for his 40 years of research on the industrialization of the Piedmont, particularly for his work on the dynamics of labor relations in the Cannon textile mills.  He was joined by scholars from Gardner-Webb and Duke universities, as well as the Museum of the New South.  The film was a tribute and scholarly analysis of the paternalistic achievements of the found of Cannon Mills, once the largest towel maker in the United States.

Freeze was part of a panel on the subject of the Confederate Monument controversy in North Carolina.  He appeared on “Capital Tonight,” Spectrum’s political reporting show, and was available to cable subscribers in more than 50 communities across North Carolina.

Carrie Graham, MA, ACT, Assistant Professor of Athletic Training
Assistant Professor of Athletic Training Carrie Graham has had a paper accepted for presentation at the American Education Research Association Fall Conference on the Research on Women and Education.  The paper titled “Female faculty from distinct racial and ethnic identities perceptions of career advancement and mentoring” was based on a portion of her dissertation which explored the career advancement and mentoring experiences of female faculty across distinct racial and ethnic identities in athletic training.  Her research finding provided support of existing theories in education and social justice and also presented a new perspective on faculty development.

Amanda Grieshaber, MS, LRT/CTRS, CRC, CBIS, Coordinator of Therapeutic Recreation
Amanda Grieshaber has co-authored an article with Dr. Danny Johnson of UNC Wilmington and Dr. Brandi Crowe of Clemson University that has been accepted for publication in the “American Journal of Recreation Therapy.”  The article is entitled “Returning to golf after a cerebrovascular accident in collaboration with a PGA golf pro and a recreation therapist.”

Dr. Eric Hake, Professor of Economics and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Ketner School of Business
Dr. Eric Hake presented the keynote address at the 17th annual conference on Financial and Economic Cycles at the National Autonomous University of Mexico on March 20, 2017.  His presentation was titled “Capital, Debt, and the Remaking of the American Corporation.”  It brought previous analysis of the role of equity finance in the coordination of industrial supply chains through merger and acquisition into the modern era.  Focusing on the period of “new finance” associated with growth of the modern bond market, his presentation explained how the current process of financialization is a continuation of practices associated with the first appearance of the modern industrial corporation.  Issues of consolidation, market power, and the rise of competing income claims that undermine the traditional distinction between creditor, debtor, and owner were developed.

Dr. Racquel Ingram, Chair and Associate Professor of Nursing
Catawba Chair and Associate Professor of Nursing, Dr. Racquel Ingram, participated in a panel discussion on STEM Leadership at the 3rd Annual Contemporary Issues in Transformative and Innovative (CITI) Leadership Conference. The Conference, entitled “From Demographics to Accountability: Reframing the Dynamics of Inclusive Leadership,” was presented by N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University Department of Leadership Studies on the N.C. A & T campus on October 20.

Ingram has also been invited and agreed to serve on the MEDSURG Nursing Journal Manuscript Review Panel.

Dr. Mahsa Khoshnoud, Assistant Professor of Business and Financ
Dr. Mahsa Knoshnoud served as a presenter and discussant at the Financial Management Association (FMA) conference held October 13.  She was a discussant for a paper titled “Executive Compensation Under Common Ownership,” and presented a paper titled “Investors’ Limited Attention: Evidence from REITs.”

Dr. Scott Morton, Visiting Professor of Communication Arts
Dr. Scott Morton attended the American Journalism Historians Association Annual Conference on October 14 and presented a research paper and sat on a panel while there.

His research paper was titled “Hanoi Hannah and the Anti-War Movement: How the American Print Media Covered a Female Enemy Radio Propagandist Who Exploited U.S. Societal Unrest during the Vietnam War.”  Hanoi Hannah was the “Tokyo Rose” of the Vietnam War. Each night, she broadcast to tens of thousands of U.S. troops, warning them of certain doom should they continue to fight, and reminding them of the rapidly growing anti-war movement at home.  She represented a new type of female shortwave propagandist, unlike her predecessors, and the American media seemed to take the propaganda element of her broadcasts more seriously than her predecessors.  Lee media attention was paid to her sexualized personae and her “cooing” to U.S. forces than the arguments she presented, which often involved commentary on the growing anti-war movement and racial strife consuming American daily newspapers and newscasts.  This study explores how Hanoi Hannah made use of the societal unrest in the U.S. during the Vietnam War as covered through the American print media, and how it helped construct the legacy for which she is remembered.

The panel that Morton participated in was titled, “Thinking Internationally: Research Opportunities Connecting Media History in the U.S. and Abroad.”

Dr. Buster Smith, Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology
The American Academy of Religion (AAR) favorably reviewed a book authored by Dr. Buster Smith, Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology.  His book, “American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems,” was reviewed on the AAR’s new online book review site, “Reading Religion.”

Smith also made a presentation titled “Success, What is it Good For?” at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion annual meeting on October 15 in Washington, D.C.  His presentation was based on research from a paper he co-authored with Dr. Edward Polson from Baylor University.  He posited that the sociology of religion frequently deals with the issue of success, both implicitly and explicitly.  Unfortunately, even though success is such a central concept to the discipline, it is rarely defined or discussed in detail.  We attempt to correct this by examining the issue of social capital as it relates to the success of religious organizations.  Oftentimes, there is an exclusive emphasis on success of the religion as synonymous with increasing membership numbers.  By using U.S. Congregational Life Survey (USCLS) data, Smith and Polson are able to see how and whether this metric relates to other possible views of religious success.  These include bonding capital in the form of congregational engagement as well as bridging capital through community services.

Professor Sandra Yamane, Assistant Professor of Nursing
Assistant Professor of Nursing Sandra Yamane made a presentation titled, “A Survey of Cybercivility Learning in Interprofessional Education,” on October 15 at the Duke Academy for Health Professions Education and Academic Development Education Day.  Her presentation concerned website-based research that analyzes to what extent U.S. nursing schools use social media, their policies or guidelines on cybercivility in social media, online classrooms, and email correspondence, and whether these protocols are readily available to students.

Catawba College faculty members continue to have scholarly papers published or accepted for publication, or have enjoyed professional achievements outside the college. Following are details of their accomplishments. Bitzer Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, Provost, Chair and Professor of Politics Dr. Michael B...

Catawba College faculty members continue to have scholarly papers published or accepted for publication, or have enjoyed professional achievements outside the college. Following are details of their accomplishments.

Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, Provost, Chair and Professor of Politics
Dr. Michael Bitzer, Provost, Chair and Professor of Politics, was quoted in the January 18, 2018 edition of "The New York Times" for an article regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's case regarding North Carolina's redistricting lawsuit.

Dr. Jay Bolin, Associate Professor and Chair of Biology
Dr. Jay Bolin, Associate Professor and Chair of Biology, along with colleagues at Old Dominion University and the Oman Botanic Garden, published a professional research article in "Phytotaxa" on Feb. 12, 2018. The article concerns Hydnora ­arabica (Aristolochiaceae), a new species from the Arabian Peninsula and a key to Hydnora. Bolin's co-authors were Darach Lupton of Oman Botanic Garden in Muscat, Oman, and Lytton John Musselman of the Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

The plant parasite Hydnora Arabica (Aristolochiaceae) is described from the Arabian Peninsula. This species was previously identified as Hydnora Africana in Oman. It can be separated from other Hydnora taxa primarily by its terete rhizome, red to orange inner perianth tube color, and tepal lobe margins entirely covered with dense strigose seta. In Oman, Hydnora Arabica is known to parasitize two leguminous trees: Acacia tortilis and the introduced Pithocellobium dulce, but may parasitize additional Fabaceae. At least 11 synonyms or subspecific varieties of H. abyssinica are described in the literature, all from east or southern Africa. These synonyms are discussed in light of new observations of morphology including tepal margin ornamentation. A new key for Hydnora is proposed.

Professor Sasikarn Chatvijit-Cook, Assistant Professor of Marketing
Professor Sasikarn Chatvijit-Cook, an Assistant Professor of Marketing, presented a paper to the International Textile and Apparel Association on November 18, 2017 and her paper received a Paper of Distinction Award for the culture track.

Her paper was titled "Exploring the Sociology of Wedding Dress Rentals consumption in Thailand." Her study employed qualitative methods to investigate how Thai societal characteristics influence consumers' wedding dress renting behavior. Findings demonstrate that shared beliefs in Thai culture affect individuals' actions or use of resources to achieve their goals. Specifically, Thai consumers' decisions to rent are influenced by cultural values, norms, and decision rules imposed by institutions that consumers acknowledge and comply with. Findings contribute to the literature in sociology of consumption in the context of wedding dress rentals by proposing a conceptual framework for exploring product-specific consumption in Thai culture.

Dr. Tyler Davis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Dr. Tyler Davis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, made a presentation at the American Geophysical Union Fall meeting on December 14. His presentation was titled, "A Pipeline for 3D Digital Optical Phenotyping Plant Root System Architecture."

Davis' work presents a new pipeline for digital optical phenotyping the root system architecture of agricultural crops. The pipeline begins with a 3D root-system imaging apparatus for hydroponically grown crop lines of interest. The apparatus acts as a self-containing dark room, which includes an imaging tank, motorized rotating bearing and digital camera. The pipeline continues with the Plant Root Imaging and Data Acquisition (PRIDA) software, which is responsible for image capturing and storage. Once root images have been captured, image post-processing is performed using the Plant Root Imaging Analysis (PRIA) command-line tool, which extracts root pixels from color images. Following the pre-processing binarization of digital root images, 3D trait characterization is performed using the next-generation RootReader3D software. RootReader3D measures global root system architecture traits, such as total root system volume and length, total number of roots, and maximum rooting depth and width. While designed to work together, the four stages of the phenotyping pipeline are modular and stand-alone, which provide flexibility and adaptability for various research endeavors (available online).

This work is an ongoing collaboration between Dr. Davis and Dr. Miguel Piñeros (USDA-ARS) and Dr. Leon Kochian and David Schneider (both at University of Saskatchewan). This research aims to quantify crop root system architecture (i.e., the configuration of roots within and throughout the soil) to assist plant breeders to meet the current and future challenges of global food security, namely: agricultural drought, nutrient depletion and soil toxicity.

Ms. Kimberly Smith, Director of Catawba to Career
Ms. Kimberly Smith, Director of Catawba to Career, was one of three individuals from Catawba College who made a December 4, 2017 presentation at the annual conference of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Other presenters included Dr. Forrest Anderson, Associate Professor of English, Associate Provost for Student Academic Success, and Acting Dean of Students, and Mr. Daryl Bruner, Student Academic Success Coordinator.

The SACSCOC presentation was titled "Students Who Muddle: A Pre-Intervention Plan to Effect Course Correction." It introduced attendees to a historically-overlooked group of students, sophomores and juniors in good academic standing who flounder through the curriculum and have a surprisingly good chance of not graduating. Smith, Anderson and Bruner demonstrated how to use predictive data to identify students likely to fall into this group prior to their very first semester of college. Presenters also detailed an intervention plan for proactively approaching this group and offering personal academic plans to effect course corrections in their first-year before they are needed.

Professor Sandra Yamane, Assistant Professor of Nursing
Assistant Professor of Nursing Sandra Yamane will make a presentation titled "Addressing Workplace Violence in Prelicensure Curriculum: Development, Administration, and Evaluation of an Innovative Teaching Bundle" on April 20th at the Nursing Education Research Conference 2018. Following is an abstract of her presentation:

"The burden of violence directed at workers in health care settings - particularly violence perpetrated by patients and visitors - is well-documented (Gomaa et al., 2014; Pompeii et al., 2013). Research suggests nursing students are exposed to violence as well, through clinical learning experiences and/or paid caregiving roles (Çelebio?lu, Akpinar, Küçüko?lu, & Engin, 2010; Ferns & Meerabeau, 2008; Hinchberger, 2009; Magnavita & Heponiemi, 2011), a reality that supports the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice's call for formal and informal education and training to help students recognize, prevent, and mitigate workplace violence (WPV) (NACNEP, 2007). Nurse educators are well-qualified to teach about occupational hazards, including WPV, but such concepts are not systematically evident in pre-licensure curricula, effective pedagogical strategies related to such concepts are limited, and students may leave educational programs not realizing the significance of workplace safety to their practice.

"To address this gap, learner experiences and needs related to WPV were identified, lecture material and situational trigger films related to WPV were created, and immersion simulation experiences were developed. This bundle of activities led to the implementation of a dynamic pedagogical strategy that addressed all domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective (Bloom, 1956). Trigger films are short films that are used to engage the affective domain (Molloy, Sabol, Silva, & Guimond, 2016). Immersion simulation experiences are widely used throughout modern nursing curricula to teach decision-making and psychomotor skill development through replication of patient scenarios in a safe environment (Hayden, Smiley, Alexander, Kardong-Edgren, & Jeffries, 2014). While the use of trigger films alone or the use of immersion simulations alone can be effective, when coupling the two strategies in a controlled environment, the learning effect may be enhanced.

"This presentation will detail the authors' experiences in conducting the needs assessment and designing the pedagogical interventions aimed at increasing students' understanding around patient/visitor-perpetrated violence and best-practice prevention and mitigation strategies. Such interventions recognized the existing typology of workplace violence and integrated conceptual models applied to violence prevention. As such, they served as an effective approach to prepare future nurses to recognize and respond to one of the more well-documented occupational hazards facing health care workers today."

Professor Yamane also had an article, "Educating Future Health Care Professionals about Cybercivility Needs Assessment Study," published on January 3, 2018 in "Nurse Educator." Here is a summary of that article: "As misbehaviors online in higher education have been widely addressed in recent research, the discourse on cyberincivility has become a contemporary issue in health professions education. However, studies regarding cybercivility, particularly from an interprofessional education standpoint, are few. This study assessed the knowledge, experience, and perceptions about cyberincivility among students in four health care disciplines. Their preferred means of learning about cybercivility and the perceived benefits of such education are also discussed."