August 2011

Around Campus

New MOCA director shares vision for museum
By Carl Holman

 Since taking the helm as the new director of The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville in February, Dr. Marcelle Polednik has been working to reshape the institution as an even more vibrant cultural resource of the University of North Florida, a cornerstone in downtown’s revitalization and a nationally renowned arts organization.

 

Prior to joining MOCA, Polednik had served as chief curator of the Monterey Museum of Art (MMA) in Monterey, Calif., and as assistant curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Fluent in six languages, the 34-year-old native of Poland is a published scholar who curated more than a dozen modern and contemporary art exhibitions. She has a Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. She had previously earned an M.A. from New York University in 2001 and a B.A., with honors, from the University of Southern California in 1999.

 

In addition to her experience as a curator, Polednik has a background in fund raising. While at the Monterey Museum and at the Whitney, she secured several grants, including two from the highly competitive Henry Luce Foundation Fund for American Art. She also served as a grants writer and researcher for Oxford University's North American offices for four years.

 

Her experience, scholarly credentials, fund-raising expertise, leadership and energetic foresight made her the right person to lead the museum, said Dr. Debra Murphy, chair of UNF’s Department of Art and Design.

 

“MOCA has greatly benefited from the generosity of the University, which has been invaluable to building our strength and capacity,” Polednik said. “MOCA is now poised to give back to the University in a reciprocal way and it is my goal to create this equilibrium by building the capacity of the museum as well as by forging more meaningful collaborations with our colleagues, faculty, academia, administration and students.”

 

She said planning exhibitions further in advance will enable her to work more closely with professors to develop lectures, classroom exercises, tours and even internship possibilities with greater educational benefits and transformational learning opportunities (TLOs) to students.

 

Within her first few months, Polednik began streamlining programming to improve the efficiency of her staff and provide greater focus to the core initiatives of the museum while making them more engaging, appealing and meaningful to the greater Jacksonville community.

 

Working with UNF’s Division of Administration and Finance, Polednik has been restructuring MOCA’s accounting system toward a project-based focus that more closely aligns with the University’s budget process and provides for improved budgeting cash flow management and financial stability.

 

“MOCA needs to be more than stable. It needs financial vitality and to become self-sufficient again,” said Polednik. “We have been faced with many of the same financial and fund-raising challenges affecting non-profits nationwide since the downturn. However, we are optimistic about achieving new levels of sustainability in the next few years.”

 

To do that, she has begun developing and implementing a three- to five-year plan that balances exhibitions with mass appeal, those that add to the scholarly canon of contemporary art history and expose people to new, more cutting-edge work than has previously been displayed.

 

During the next 18 months, she said major exhibitions will showcase:

·               The private photography collection of Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla, considered by Art News as two of the world’s most astute collectors. The exhibit has been curated with Paul Karabinis, assistant professor of photography, and will have a major publication by the prestigious Aperture Foundation.

·               Emerging national artists Melanie Pullen, Gustavo Godoy and Mark Licari are creating new installation projects to take advantage of the museum’s monumental five-story atrium.

·               Exhibitions highlighting the pivotal decades of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s comprised of works from MOCA’s permanent collection collection and loans from other institutions and private collections. These important pojects will broaden the First Coast’s understanding about the history of contemporary art.

 

The shift to a project-based accounting, the hiring of a development director in April and the creation of a three-year exhibition plan are critical elements that have been missing, she said, but now that they are in place she feels the tide turning. MOCA is beginning to position itself to be more attractive to prospective donors and funders and is taking the first steps on the road to receiving coveted accreditation from the American Association of Museums, which, Polednik said, is any museum’s license to practice.

 

“Achieving AAM accreditation recognizes a museum’s commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement,” Polednik said. “It is of vital importance to our long-term strategies because it enables MOCA to get loans of major contemporary art works from well-known institutions and secure greater funding opportunities for things like acquisitions to our permanent collection or capital improvements to the facility.”

 

Her sights are also set on making MOCA a key player in downtown’s revitalization and to position it as a leader in the arts community. She has met with several of her counterparts at cultural arts organizations around the city and is a participant in the monthly Cultural Council Roundtable to address issues affecting the growth of the arts in Duval County.

 

”Bringing cultural arts to the downtown district is one of the leading forces of revitalizing and it can be a real igniter of job growth, business development and community pride,” she said.

 

As she looks to MOCA’s future under her direction, Polednik is equally proud of what the museum had achieved before her arrival.

 

“A great deal has been accomplished by this museum and it’s poised to accomplish a great deal more,” she said. “I think it has the right ingredients — and UNF is certainly among the most important of those.” 

 

Around Campus

Local seniors put OLLI to the test
By Dan Dundon

Howard Taylor and his wife, Madeline, had both retired about the same time and were looking for ways to keep physically fit and mentally sharp when they discovered the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNF.

 

In the two years the Jacksonville couple has been involved in the program, they have taken part in more than 20 separate classes and numerous organized activities ranging from a tour of the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville to UNF jazz concerts.

 

Taylor is one of about 1,200 members participating in the OLLI program at UNF. Thanks to a second $1 million gift recently announced by The Bernard Osher Foundation, the program is expected to grow substantially in coming years.

 

Osher Institutes, dedicated to individuals 50 and older, are located at 117 colleges and universities across the country, with the UNF program being among the fastest growing in the nation.

 

That growth — from 12 classes five years ago to 70 classes this fall — was one factor in a decision by the Osher Foundation to make a second $1 million gift to the University as part of The Power of Transformation campaign. The gift has been instrumental in pushing the campaign closer to the $100 million level. The campaign hopes to reach its $110 million goal sometime next year.

 

Taylor loves the variety of courses that are offered. He and his wife have taken classes in bridge, photography, yoga and on a variety of business topics. One such course, Too Big to Fail, which examined the challenges facing the banking industry, was taught by a retired senior vice president of the Federal Reserve System. “The instructors have been wonderful and the curriculum is constantly changing. Some classes my wife and I take together. Some we go our separate ways,” he said.

 

The variety of programs was one factor in the Osher Foundation’s decision to extend funding. “The range and diversity of educational opportunities the program offers is impressive,” said Mary Bitterman, president of the Osher Foundation. “The exceptional growth of the Institute’s membership over the past several years is certainly a testament to the consistent strength and appeal of its engaging curriculum.”

With $2 million provided by the Osher Foundation for the Institute’s UNF endowment, the outlook for the program is indeed bright, said Continuing Education Dean Robert Wood. “This extraordinary gift is an indication of the Osher Foundation’s confidence in UNF to offer the highest-quality enrichment program to the greatest numbers of learners in the metro area,” he said.

 

Wood also attributed the success of the program to volunteers. “Our growth would not have been possible without the passionate, committed volunteers who lead and the generous donors who support our OLLI organization.” 

 

Volunteers are one of the program’s most distinguishable characteristics. The UNF program relies on more than 350 volunteers to staff committees and also to act as instructors. Four committees keep the program running, including a curriculum team, a membership team, a communications team and an activities team. Volunteers are involved in every aspect of the program from writing and editing the newsletter to planning trips and socials. 

 

Since instructors are also volunteers, it has allowed the program to keep costs affordable, said Jeanette Toohey, director of the program.  Member fees are $45 per person per year with courses priced according to their length, from $7 to $85, with most being between $20 and $40. “These affordable costs help broaden our participation which in turn explains our growth and why we received the additional $1 million,” she said.

 

With the curriculum being determined by members, ideas are limitless. For example, Taylor, an African-American, has proposed a history course to explore what happened to the slaves after the Civil War. “I’ve presented a concept to the curriculum committee and they are working on it for next year.”

 

“Courses come from what someone wants to learn and from what someone wants to teach,” said Billie Hayward, president of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNF. Hayward took over the presidency recently from the founding members who got the organization up and running. While building on five years of progress, Hayward said special efforts will be made this year to be more inclusive of all population groups while at the same time breaking down some of the geographic barriers such as the St. Johns River that appear to discourage more widespread participation.

 

Hayward said research has shown the extensive benefits of life-long learning. “The people who join OLLI are not only keeping their brains alive and alert but they are also giving back to the community,” she said.

 

Most, but not all, classes are offered at UNF’s University Center. A number of classes are offered at Jacksonville senior communities Fleet Landing, Glenmore, Vicar’s Landing and Westminster Woods. This is particularly helpful for seniors who are single but still interested in participating in community activities, Hayward said.

 

One thing is clear in discussing the success of OLLI:  the overwhelming emphasis is on members. “The members are the heart and soul of everything we do. Members are our greatest resource,” she said.

 

That’s a philosophy espoused by Bernard Osher, a respected San Francisco business executive and community leader who created the Osher Foundation in 1977. A native of Maine and a graduate of Bowdoin College, Osher began his career when he assumed management of the family’s hardware and plumbing business. He later worked at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York before moving to California where he became a founding director of World Savings, which eventually was sold to Wachovia in 2006. He later purchased the fine art auction house of Butterfield & Butterfield in 1970 and oversaw its growth to become the fourth-largest auction house in the world. He sold that company to eBay in 1999. The foundation Osher began seeks to improve the quality of life through support of higher education and the arts.

 

Without a doubt, Bernard Osher would take great pride in the work being done at UNF.

Get to Know

Nuria Ibáñez

 Name: Nuria Ibáñez Quintana
 
Department: Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
 
Job title: Assistant Professor of Spanish
 
What do you do? 

I teach Spanish Language, Literature and Culture. I am the Director of the Semester Abroad Program at the Universidad de Cantabria, Spain and I continue my research on my field of expertise, Spanish theater. 
 
Years at UNF: This will be my fourth year.
 
What is the proudest/happiest moment of your life?  

I can think of many and hopefully many more to come. I remember the day I defended my dissertation. I knew my family would be proud of me and they were thinking about me. At the end of the defense, the chair of my department brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers that my family sent. 

Tell us about your family.  

I am the youngest of seven wonderful brothers and sisters. I also have six nephews whom I adore. All my family lives in Spain, except me. I have a great partner that I feel fortunate to have met and to share my life with him.  

What is your favorite way to blow an hour?  

An hour (or two) on Skype with my nephews and my family in general.

 

What person had the greatest impact on your life?   

I think when you are the youngest of seven you have the fortune of having several people that impact your life. My youngest of four brothers and my oldest sister have had a significant impact as well as some of my professors from graduate school, especially one of my mentors who introduced me to Spanish women play writers. This is an area that I have since then worked and have grown to love. 
 

What are you most passionate about?  

Life, my family, my culture and my work.
 
What is your favorite thing about working at UNF?  

The students and my department. We are lucky to be on a campus that is not too big and not too small and allows interaction with students and the campus community in general. 

If you were not working at UNF, what would you be doing?  

Teaching, maybe in Spain, maybe somewhere else.

If you could choose any other career, what would it be and why?  

Probably something related to environment or ecology. 

What would you like to do when you retire?
I never thought of that before. Probably travel, relax, volunteer and try to live a fulfilling life wherever I am. 

  

What is the best thing you ever won?  

I have never won a lottery or anything like that.

 

If you won the lottery, what would do with the money? 

Buy a house in the mountains on the north coast of Spain.
  

What was the best money you ever spent? 

I think the best money I ever spent were the funds that my parents and I invested in my Study Abroad program. The last year of my degree I participated in the ERASMUS program, a European Student Exchange program. I studied in England and also travelled around Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It was a totally life changing experience that I believed made a lot of who I am now.

  

What was the first concert you ever attended, and what was the most recent concert you attended?
When I was a kid my parents used to take my brother and me to listen to the city orchestra almost every Sunday afternoon. It was a kind of routine after church and before Sunday lunch. Now it is a great memory. After that, my first concert was Texas, a Scottish group that I love. I knew their songs by heart and they helped me learn English. The last one was a Great American Jazz Series concert on campus.

 

Who is the most famous person you ever met?
I guess it depends on what we consider famous, I have met some of the play writers that I work on, they are famous only in a certain context but for me it is a privilege to know them. 

 
What do you hope to accomplish that you have not done yet?  

Many things! I will talk about them when I accomplish them.

Last book read: 

Two of them: a play, Polifonía; and a novel, La historia del rey transparente. I will have the pleasure to present a paper on Polifonía and introduce the play writer in a Theater Conference in the Fall. La historia del rey transparente, isone of those readings that once you start you cannot separate from it until you are done. 

Ask UNF

 MyPyramid has been around since 1992 and many consumers found the information difficult to understand and implement in their daily lives. Dr. Catherine Christie, associate dean and chair of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, discusses the new MyPlate, which was designed to be a quick, simple reminder of what a healthy plate looks like and the proportions of different food types that are recommended.

 

How does MyPlate fit with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines? 

In 2010, the USDA released its 2010 Dietary Guidelines. This year they released MyPlate, which is intended to be a visual cue that facilitates implementing the dietary guidelines. For example,MyPlateillustrates the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, building a healthy plate with recommended proportions of different food types and including advice to make half a plate fruits and vegetables, make half your grains whole grains, avoid oversized portions and enjoy your food but eat less. Most Americans don’t eat these recommended proportions of fruits and vegetables. Adding more fruits and vegetables to the diet has been shown to reduce both blood pressure and heart disease and help in diabetes control as well as weight management.

 

What else can I do to eat healthier? 

 

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines also recommended some foods to reduce. For example, drink water instead of sugary drinks and compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals, choosing the foods with less sodium. Sodium is most often found in processed foods like chips, crackers, pre-prepared and packaged foods plus restaurant meals. Table salt supplies about one-third of most people’s sodium intake. Fresh foods, like fruits and vegetables, are low in sodium. Many Americans get extra calories through beverages. Soft drinks, coffee drinks, juice drinks, many smoothies and alcoholic drinks all provide extra calories without significant nutritional benefits. Drinking water and limiting caloric drinks can make a significant difference in calories. Selecting low-fat or skim milk and dairy products will also provide the protein, calcium and vitamin D needed for health with fewer calories.

 

What about the cost of fruits and vegetables? 

While fruits and vegetables are often costly, so are other foods like snack foods, soft drinks and desserts. Increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables on your plate means cutting back on these other foods to promote good health and can actually result in cost savings. Buying fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets, on sale and in the freezer section can also save money.

 

How does this relate to obesity prevention? 

Excess calories contribute to obesity, so eating less and eating less calorie-dense foods can help. Also, increasing activity and spending less time sitting will help to burn calories and prevent weight gain. New research indicates that sitting actually changes the body’s metabolism of foods we eat. Many of us exercise a half-hour to an hour a day and then sit for most of the rest of the day. Moving often during the day and getting up from the chair is important, along with regular exercise.

 

What about whole grains? 

In order to make half your grains whole grains, choose foods such as whole wheat breads, oatmeal or oat cereals, whole wheat pastas, brown rice and whole-grain popcorn products that contain more fiber. It’s often hard to do because bakery products and even brown breads may not have whole wheat or other whole grains like oats as the first ingredient. Checking the ingredient list, not the claims on the front of the package, is the most surefire way to know if the product provides whole grains.

 

“Ask UNF” is a monthly column that runs in The Florida Times-Union, promoting the expertise of UNF faculty and staff.If you have questions about this topic, contact Christie at c.christie@unf.edu. 

Faculty & Staff

Brooks College of Health 

  

Public Health: Drs. Elissa Barr, Tammie Johnson and Michelle Johnson Moore presented “Sexual Behavior of Middle School Students” at the Society for Prevention Research’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in June. 

 
Coggin College of Business 

Accounting and Finance: Drs. Tom Barton and John MacArthur received a Certificate of Merit for their article “For the Management Accountant: A New Hue of Green” at the Annual Conference of the Institute of Management Accountants’ national meeting in June. The article appeared in the March 2011 issue of Strategic Finance.

  

Management: Drs. Zhang Pingying and Lakshmi Goel had a joint article published in the MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2011. The article is titled “Is e-learning for Everyone? An Internal-External Framework of e-Learning Initiatives.” 

  

Marketing and Logistics: Dr. Adel El-Ansary is the editor-in-chief for “Cases on Business and Management in the MENA Region: New Trends and Opportunities,” a publication sponsored by the American University, Cairo. The volume includes cases in key business areas including accounting, finance, information systems, operations management and logistics, management and marketing.

 

Dr. Greg Gundlach and co-authors Kenneth C. Manning and Joseph P. Cannon wrote an article published in AMS (Academy of Marketing Science) Review titled “Resale Price Maintenance and Free Riding: Insights from Multi-Channel Research.”

  

Dr. A.C. “Josh” Samli authored a paper presented at the annual conference of the Academy of Marketing Science titled “Globalization of Innovations: Disseminating High Technological Advancement.” He also authored a paper presented at the annual conference of the Society of Macromarketing. It is titled “International Entreprenurship: The Essence of Globalization from the Bottom Up.”

  

College of Arts and Sciences 

Languages, Literatures and Cultures: Dr. Nuria Ibáñez published the article “Diana Raznovich: De Atrás para Adelante, más Allá de la Identidad Genérica y Sexual” in Telón de Fondo: Revista de Teoría y Crítica Teatral in July.

 

Mathematics and Statistics: Dr. Elena Buzaianu presented a paper titled “Two-stage Subset Selection Procedure to Identify EM Fields following Log-normal Distributions” at the 3^rd International Workshop in Sequential Methodologies in Stanford, Calif. 

 

Dr. Daniela Genova presented a paper titled “Defining Languages by Forbidding-Enforcing Systems” at the Computability in Europe Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria.

 

 Dr. Mei-Qin Zhan presented a talk at the International Conference on Applied Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Research titled “Convergence of Dirichlet Quotients and Selective Decay of 2D” in Tiajin, China.

  

Psychology: Dr. James Wirth published an article titled “The World in Black and White: Ostracism Enhances the Categorical Perception of Social Information” in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, No. 47. 

  

College of Computing, Construction and Engineering 

 

Dean’s Office: Dr. Jerry Merckel participated in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 2011 Vail Computer Elements International Workshop in late June. Merckel serves as the vice chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Computer Elements.  

  

School of Computing: Dr. Ching-Hua Chuan served as a paper reviewer for the Third International Conference on Mathematics and Computation in Music in Paris, France, in mid-June. 

 

Dr. Kenneth Martin has been selected to be the team chair to evaluate an overseas undergraduate computer science program for the Computing Accreditation Commission/Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology this fall.

  

School of Engineering: Dr. Chris Brown gave an invited presentation, “Aquifer, Storage and Recovery Potential in the Savannah River Basin," to the Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.   

  

Dr. Pat Welsh appeared on Action News WTEV Jacksonville CBS 47 WAWS Jacksonville FOX 30 to discuss the upcoming hurricane season. In addition, representing both UNF and the Southeast Coastal Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), Welsh participated in a presentation to the National Ocean Policy (NOP) team on the NOP Strategic Plans. Both appearances were in early June.

  

College of Education and Human Service
 
Childhood Education: Dr. Katie Monnin will present at this year's 2011 San Diego Comic Convention. The presentation is titled “Transforming Super-powered Readers of Graphic Novels into Super-powered Writers of Graphic Novels” and her panelists include Assistant Professor Dr. James Bucky Carter from the University of Texas-El Paso, and graphic novelists Belle Yang, Eric Wight, Jenni and Matt Holm and Jimmy Gownley. 
 
Dr. Nile Stanley and his performance-based reading program were featured in the Jacksonville Monthly Magazine, Ponte Vedra Leader and Ruidoso (New Mexico) News.
 
Dr. Gigi Morales David presented “Exploring Elements of Space, Spatial Thinking and Positional Vocabulary with Two-Dimensional Works of Art” at the Florida Kennedy Center Partners in Education Arts for Learning Tools for Teaching Conference in June. The chair of the Fine Arts Department of Episcopal High School selected David’s picture book “Just Mollie and Me” to be performed as a play during the Eagle Arts Camp this summer. They also invited David to come for an author visit to share the process of writing this book with their students. 

 

Exceptional Student and Deaf Education: Dr. Donald Moores’ book “Partners in Education: Issues and Trends from the 21st International Congress on the Education of the Deaf” was recently published by Gallaudet University Press. Topics encompass seven strands: educational environments; language and literacy; early intervention; unique challenges in developing countries; educating learners with diverse needs; technology in education; and sign language and deaf culture. Amber Moore, a recent graduate of the Deaf Education Program, collaborated with Moores on one of the chapters, International Congresses on the Education of the Deaf, 1878 to 2005. At the recent Congress in Vancouver, B.C. with more than 700 attendees, Moores presented a keynote address on deaf learners with diverse needs.  

 

Leadership, School Counseling and Sport Management: Dr. Terence Cavanaugh’s latest book was just released by the International Society of Technology in Education Press. The book, “Bookmapping: Lit Trips and Beyond,” was written with Google Master Educator Jerome Burg. It details how to use GIS mapping technology as a cross-curricular tool that helps students not only develop a better understanding of places, cultures and the books they are reading, but also make connections among the subjects they learn in school. Bookmapping allows students to plot the locations of a story on an interactive map, adding multimedia and hyperlinks about the setting, characters and plot. They can add a photograph of a historical figure or an audio clip of regional music. And maps offer much more, helping students see places in the book up close ― the vastness of the ocean their hero must cross, or the density of a city that hosts colorful and varied characters.

Dateline

Milestone anniversaries 

Congratulations to the following employees who will celebrate a milestone anniversary at UNF in August:

  

30 years 

Charlotte Mabrey, Professor, Music Program

Kenneth Wilburn, Associate Professor, Leadership

 

25 years 

Ricky Arjune, Chief Budget Officer, Budget Office

Forest Wallace, Associate Professor, School of Computing

 

20 years 

Deborah Bundy, Retirement Manager, Human Resources

Paula Horvath-Neimeyer, Instructor, Communication

C.B. Kavan, Chair, Management

Jimmy Nash, Maintenance Mechanic, University Housing

Renee Scott, Professor, Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Mary Tappmeyer, Women’s Basketball Head Coach, Intercollegiate Athletics

 

15 years 

Theresa Dinuzzo, Director, University Counseling Center

Ove Erdal, Coordinator of Information Technology Support, Public Health

Louanne Harris, Financial Aid Specialist, Enrollment Services Processing Office

Anne Hoover, Director, Academic Affairs

David Jaeger, Associate Professor, Accounting and Finance

Lillia Loriz, Director, Nursing

Judith Sherburne, Senior Applications Programmer, Enterprise Systems

 

10 years 

Frederick Beck, Chief Medical Officer, Student Health Services

Catherine Christie, Associate Dean, Nutrition and Dietetics

Matthew Ciere, Custodial Worker, University Center

Charles Coughlin, Senior Lecturer, Biology

Sharon Crutchfield, Adjunct and Staff Interpreter, Urban Internship

Dwight Gabbard, Associate Professor, English

Christine Holland, Instructor, Communication

Maged Malek, Chair, Building Construction Management

Kimberlee Oakes, Director of Research Program Services, Exceptional Student and Deaf Education

Nirmalkumar Patel, Lecturer, Physics

Francis Richard, Director of the Office of Faculty Enhancement, Academic Affairs

Claudia Scaff, Associate Professor, Art and Design

Robert Stern, Lecturer, Chemistry

Cassandra Stillson, Office Manager, Philosophy and Religious Studies

Mamadou Thiam, Lecturer, Chemistry

 

Five years 

Lynn Albright, Laboratory Lecturer, Physics

Lynne Arriale, Assistant Professor, Music Program

Andrew Burks, Refuse and Recycling Moving Supervisor, Physical Facilities

Evelyn Burton, Associate Director, Purchasing

Chris Carey, Senior Applications System Analyst, Enterprise Systems

Adam Carle, Assistant Professor, Psychology

Tammy Carroll, Instructor, Nursing

Matthew Davies, Laboratory Lecturer, Chemistry

Terry DeRubeis, Academic Adviser, Coggin College of Business

Andrea Hall, Adjunct, Public Health

David Hargrove, Applications Systems Analyst, Information Technology Services

Alan Harris, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering

Stephen Heywood, Assistant Professor, Art and Design

Sharon Keefe, Adjunct, Art and Design

Sungho Kim, Research Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering

Jason Lee, Associate Professor, Leadership

Christy Linster, Executive Secretary, Physical Facilities

Peter Magyari, Assistant Professor, Clinical and Applied Movement Sciences

Sharon Miller, Assistant Director, Child Development Research Center

John Mundy, Adjunct, Economics

Jennifer Neidhardt, Assistant Director of Benefits and Retirement, Human Resources

Frederick Nelson, Instructor, Foundations and Secondary Education

Ann Noonan, Associate Professor, Clinical and Applied Movement Sciences

Catherine Ovadia, Office Manager, Chemistry

Eumanise Parvilus, Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities

Nakinya Robinson, Senior Accountant, Controller’s Office

Alicia Scott, Senior Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities

Kristen Vandenburg, Associate Professor, Community Nursing Program

Burr Watters, Senior Application Systems, Enterprise Systems

Christine White, Adjunct, Education and Human Services

Nancy Winckler-Zuniga, Teacher, Child Development Research Center

  

Welcome 

The following employees were either hired by UNF or were promoted from OPS positions from mid-June to mid-July:

Asai Asaithambi, Director, School of Computing 

Adam Boyd, Instructor, Nursing 

Carolyn Clark, Coordinator Research Program Services, President’s Office

Christopher Crabtree, Coordinator of Athletic Development, Intercollegiate Athletics

Rebecca Easom, Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities 

Nicholas Eastham, Coordinator of Academic Support, Education and Human Services

Allison Entner, Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities 

Carole Goldberg, Academic Adviser, Academic Center for Excellence

Jeffrey Gouge, Business Systems Analyst, Enterprise Systems 

LaVel Heintz, Coordinator for Residence Life, University Housing

Yi Lin, Coordinator of Academic Support, Advising 

Megan Ludwick, Executive Secretary, University Housing 

Kevin Morrow, Athletic Business Manager, Intercollegiate Athletics

Tru Nguyen, Custodial Worker, Student Union 

Frank Pierorazio, Parking Services Technician, University Parking

Pamela Quimby, Accounting Associate, Student GovernmentBusiness and Accounting Office

Ronald Rentz, Coordinator for Residence Life, University Housing

Larry Snedden, Coordinator of Computer Systems, School of Computing

Joanne Steele, Women’s Golf Head Coach, Intercollegiate Athletics

Victoria Taylor, Law Enforcement Officer, Campus Police 

Loc Tran, Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities 

Megan Walker-Radtke, Assistant Director, Academic Center for Excellence

  

Great job 

The following employees were promoted from mid-June to mid-July:

Melissa Blakenship,Assistant Director, Office of Admissions

Maris Brien, Associate Director, UNF Foundation

  

Goodbye 

Heartfelt well wishes in their new endeavors for the following employees, who left UNF from mid-June to mid-July:

Yemisi Bolumole, Associate Professor, Marketing and Logistics

Joseph Campbell, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

William Fryson, Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities

Bethany Glassbrenner, Coordinator of Academic Support Services, One-Stop Center

Paul Harwood, Professor, Political Science and Public Administration

Candace Hickson, Coordinator of Academic Support Services, One-Stop Center

Pamela Johnson-Woods, Senior Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities

Joe Lesem, Associate Professor, Communication

Elizabeth McCarthy, Professor, Nursing

Shari Naman, Academic Adviser, Academic Center for Excellence

Russell Smith, Chair and Associate Professor, Clinical and Applied Movement Sciences

George Smith, Professor, Foundations and Secondary Education

Jhon Solis, Maintenance Mechanic, Physical Facilities

Fred Sudler, Director of IT Enterprise Systems, Enterprise Systems

Debra Wellmann, Administrative Secretary, Coggin College of Business

  

Congratulations 

Kathie Carswell, office manager in the School of Engineering, completed her Bachelor of Science degree in health administration/information systems from the University of Phoenix in June.

 

Coggin College of Business faculty member Dr. Albert Loh and his wife, Jenny, an adjunct faculty member, welcomed their son, Brian Loh, Wednesday, June 22. The new Osprey weighed in at 8 pounds, 7.4 ounces and measured 21 inches long.

 

Barbara Ruby, an executive secretary in Institutional Advancement, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English this past April.

 

Good Question

  Q: From Signe Evans, library services specialist, Thomas G. Carpenter Library — I recently discovered a UNF webpage from the 2010/2011 Catalog listing university emeriti faculty. How does one become an emeriti faculty since not every retired professor is an emeritus? And what does it actually mean? What are its privileges and responsibilities? 

  

A: From Marianne Jaffee, assistant to the Provost, Academic Affairs — The procedures for the awarding of emeritus status can be found in the Faculty Handbook. It reads:

 
8.6 Faculty Emeritus

The title “emeritus” is an honor that may be conferred upon a tenured professor or associate professor upon retirement, in recognition of a distinguished record at the University of North Florida.

Emeritus faculty shall enjoy the same campus courtesies extended to active faculty, including parking privileges, listing (with emeritus designation) in the catalog, use of the library and recreation facilities, use of the Faculty Commons, admission to athletic and cultural events, receipt of such publications as are sent to active faculty members and Alumni Association members, participation in academic convocations and, when possible, office space.

Everyone who becomes eligible for the title shall be considered for it. Candidates shall be recommended by their departmental colleagues, nominated by the department chairperson and approved by the college dean, who shall submit the nomination to the Vice President for Academic Affairs for final approval and action.

 

Employees who have UNF-related questions they would like to have answered in the next issue of Inside are encouraged to send them to goodquestion@unf.edu. Submitted questions will be considered for publication in the "Good Question" column, which is designed to help inform the campus community about relevant issues. When submitting questions, please include your name, department and job title, which will be included if your question is selected. The submission deadline is the 15th of each month. For more information, contact Cathy Cole at cathy.cole@unf.edu. 

 

Sponsored Research

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs has announced the following grants and contracts:

 

Cheryl Fountain (Florida Institute of Education): “CROP: Jacksonville Precollegiate Connections, 2010-2011,” Florida Department of Education, $667,000; and “School Readiness Technical Assistance and Support Initiative, 2011-2012,” Agency for Workforce Innovation/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, $1,033,590

  

Donald Shea (President’s Office), “Administrative/Managerial Support,” Jacksonville Civic Council, $50,170

 

Michelle Boling (Clinical and Applied Movement Science), “Epidemiology of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Identifying Gender Specific Risk Factors,” National Institutes of Health, $69,952

 

Irma Ancheta (Nursing), “Mediating Effects of Inflammatory Biomarkers, Socioeconomic Position, Emotional and Psychosocial Resources on Metabolic Syndrome Among Filipino American Women,” UNF Foundation, $54,500

  

Lillia Loriz (Nursing), “Advanced Education Nursing Traineeships, 2011-2012,” Health Resources and Services Administration, $36,982

  

Michele Moore and Elissa Barr (Public Health), “Development of an Evidence-based Sexual Risk Reduction Program for College Students,” UNF Foundation, $54,000

  

Behrooz Seyed-Abbassi (Computing), “BCBSFL/UNF Partnership for Educational Collaboration,” Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, $160,000

  

Chris Brown (Engineering), “Assessment, Analysis and Evaluation of the Wbv 14e.2 — V-Line Levee, East of Vertex — Phase 2 Project,” Battelle Memorial Institute/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, $6,972

  

Adel Elsafty and N. Mike Jackson (Engineering), “Degradation Assessment of Internal Continuous Fiber Reinforcement in Concrete Environment,” Florida Department of Transportation, $200,000

  

Thobias Sando (Engineering), “Operational and Safety Impacts of Restriping Inside Lanes of Urban Multilane Curbed Roadways to 11 Feet or Less to Create Wider Outside Curb Lanes for Bicyclists,” Florida Department of Transportation, $45,232

  

Matthew Kimball (Biology), “Evaluating the Effect of Water Control Structures on the Accessibility of Critical Nursery Habitats for Ecologically and Commercially Important Estuarine Nekton,” Louisiana State University/Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, $73,182

  

Michael Hallett (Criminology and Criminal Justice), “The 904 Media Project,” The Community Foundation of Jacksonville, $5,000

  

Radha Pyati (Chemistry/The Environmental Center), “A Statewide Initiative in Florida for Professional Science Master’s Programs,” University of Central Florida/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, $5,000

  

Dale Clifford (History), “We the PUPILS (Professionals United to Promote Instructional Leadership in Schools),” Duval County Public Schools/U.S. Department of Education, $37,106

  

Alissa Swota (Philosophy and Religious Studies), “Clinical Ethicist for Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Year 5,” Wolfson Children’s Hospital, $34,882

 

The Goods

Don’t feel blue … feel good with blueberries

  Blueberries are tiny fruits rich in color and taste that provide lots of nutrients and are available all year round. They come from a flowering bush of the Vacciniumcyanococcus family and are related to cranberries, strawberries, acai and blackberries. They are also named the star berry because of the crown the blossom forms. Dr. Nancy Correa-Matos, a faculty member in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, discusses myths and facts about this tiny super fruit that packs a big nutritional punch. To help you include blueberries in your diet, a recipe is also provided.

Myth: Blueberries are less nutritious than strawberries. 

Fact: Among the berries, including strawberries, blueberries contain the highest amount of antioxidants, which can help to prevent cell damage and inflammation often associated with conditions of cancer, heart disease and arthritis, among others. Blueberries are high in other nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin E, dietary fiber, manganese, magnesium, calcium, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin K and water. They’re also low in calories, saturated fat and cholesterol. One cup of fresh blueberries contains around 84 calories, 25 percent of the requirement for vitamin C and manganese, 36 percent of the requirement for vitamin K and 4 grams of dietary fiber.

  

Myth: The darker the color of the blueberry, the fewer nutrients it contains. 

Fact: The darker the color of the blueberry, the more anthocyanin it contains. Anthocyanins are chemical substances in plants from the polyphenol family that provide health benefits. Other polyphenols are myricetin, quercetin and resveratrol, which have been shown to act as strong antioxidants, reducing free radicals and inflammation.

  

Myth: Frozen berries are more nutritious than fresh berries.  

Fact: Both are equally nutritious. Although storage can cause loss of some nutrients, studies have shown that quick-freezing can prevent large nutrient loss. According to the USDA, the nutrients that are mostly affected with freezing, dehydration and heating are vitamin C and folic acid. A great way to boost the vitamin C that can be lost due to these storage methods is by mixing frozen blueberries with fresh citrus juice in a smoothie.

  

Myth: Blueberries may help to reduce cancer risk but not heart disease risk. 

Fact: Blueberries play an important role in heart disease risk prevention because they have a high amount of antioxidants, known as flavonoids and anthocyanins, which increase the good cholesterol (HDL), while reducing the LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol). The oxidation of LDL can cause inflammation in arteries, and blueberries can act as an antioxidant to reduce inflammation, preventing damage to the heart. In a study with adults receiving polyphenols equivalent to 1 cup of blueberries a day for three months showed a reduction in bad cholesterol and an increase in HDL cholesterol, reducing heart disease risk by 27 percent.

  

Myth: Fresh blueberries are available mostly in the spring. 

Fact:The blueberry plant flowers in spring, but its development occurs after two to three months. The harvest season is during summer. July is National Blueberry Month in North America, the largest blueberry producer in the world. When the fruit is ripe during the summer, it has the highest antioxidant content and the best color and taste. That’s one reason the blueberry is the preferred fruit in the summer, mostly prepared as blueberry muffins and pies. You can find frozen blueberries at any time of the year.

  

“Berry” Good Summer Smoothie 

Yield: 4 servings (4 ounces)

 

½ cup fresh blueberries

½ cup fresh strawberries

½ cup fresh raspberries

½ cup skim milk

1 blueberry yogurt

Artificial sweetener

Ice cubes (optional)

 

In a blender, mix the fruits, yogurt and milk with the sweetener. Cover and blend until smooth. Serve cold.

 

Nutritional content per serving: 

Calories: 261

Grams of protein: 19

Grams of carbohydrates: 44

Grams of fat: 1

Grams of fiber: 7

  

“The Goods” is a monthly column that runs in The Florida Times-Union’s Taste section about food myths and facts by faculty members in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics. Have a question about blueberries? Contact Correa-Matos at ncorrea@unf.edu.