Engaged Scholarship Awards

April 13, 2026
11:30 – 1:00 p.m.
National Ranching Heritage Center
McCombs Gallery

PRESIDENT’S EXCELLENCE IN ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

2026 Award Recipient
Awards Category: Excellence in Engaged Teaching

Project: “Bringing Nature Where Children Are: Engaged Landscape Teaching to Advance Early Childhood Health, Well-Being, and Learning”

Early Learning Centers of Lubbock (ELCL) is a nonprofit early childhood education organization serving families across Lubbock, Texas, through high quality childcare and early learning programs. ELCL operates multiple centers and is committed to supporting children’s physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development during the critical early years. Lubbock Memorial Arboretum (LMA) is a public green space in Lubbock, Texas, dedicated to promoting environmental education, plant awareness, and community access to nature. Through sustained, trust-based partnerships with these and other community organizations, this project brings students and community partners together in shared processes of co-learning, co-design, and co-creation of nature-based everyday settings. Students critically evaluate real sites and through iterative feedback from campus and community partners develop evidence-based design solutions that increase nature connectedness while advancing children’s health, creativity, curiosity, early STEM learning, and social-emotional well-being. The project has produced measurable economic, educational, and behavioral impacts across multiple community settings. It has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications, presentations, as well as innovative, award-winning technology-based pedagogy, and a STEM learning assessment framework.

Faculty
Dr. Muntazar Monsur, Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Community Partners
Lena Scaff, Executive Director, Early Learning Centers of Lubbock
Lubbock Memorial Arboretum

University Partners
Stacy Johnson, M.S., Director, Christine DeVitt and Helen Devitt Jones Child Development Research Center (CDRC), College of Health and Human Sciences
Dr. Stephanie Shine, Executive Director, Center for Early Head Start, College of Health and Human Sciences

PRESIDENT’S EMERGING ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

2026 Award Recipients
Project: “Co-DREAM Tech: Building Community-Driven Resilience and Empowerment through Adaptive Manufacturing Technologies”

Co-DREAM Tech (Community-Driven Resilient Empowerment through Adaptive Manufacturing Technologies) is an engaged research and design-build initiative addressing resilient housing, equitable access to emerging construction technologies, and community capacity building. Supported by NSF under the ReDDDoT program (Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies), the project began as a planning effort centered on participatory workflows and community-enabled innovation. The initiative responds to needs identified by community partners, particularly around disaster resilience, housing adaptability, and limited access to advanced design and fabrication resources. It integrates contextual mapping, hybrid analysis of emerging design-build technologies, and participatory prototyping. Co-design processes incorporate augmented reality, robotic fabrication, and additive manufacturing as collaborative platforms through which community partners shape design priorities. Community partners as well as youth participants gain direct hands-on experience with emerging construction technologies, and workflows developed through the project provide exemplary, adaptable models that help inform future implementation efforts. The curriculum developed also translates complex technologies into deployable community training modules.

Faculty
Dr. Sina Mostafavi, Associate Professor, Huckabee College of Architecture
Dr. Asma Mehan, Assistant Professor, Huckabee College of Architecture
Dr. Ali Nejat, Associate Academic Dean & Professor, Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, Whitacre College of Engineering

Community Partners
South Plains Food Bank, Lubbock
Navajo Nation
University Partners
Navajo Technical University


PRESIDENT’S EMERGING ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

2026 Award Recipient
Project: “East Lubbock Art House Wellness Workshops”

The East Lubbock Art House (ELAH) Wellness Workshops are a community-based health initiative designed to address the critical lack of accessible mental and physical health resources in East Lubbock, a historically marginalized community. Launched in April 2022 to address health inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this project is a relatively new community project distinct from traditional clinical models, utilizing a culturally responsive, arts-integrated approach. By partnering with ELAH, a nonprofit community hub in East Lubbock, it provides a healthy space for residents to engage in dialogue about stigmatized topics such as depression, anxiety, sleep management, and food security. It relies on a deep, reciprocal partnership between Texas Tech University (TTU) and ELAH that is rooted in shared decision-making and mutual respect. ELAH Executive Director Danielle Demetria East identifies the specific, timely needs of East Lubbock residents to guide workshop topics while managing outreach and trust-building. Sessions go beyond simple information dissemination; they create a feedback loop where residents actively shape the health agenda based on their lived experiences. By filling a void in accessible services, the project has empowered residents with enhanced health literacy and practical strategies to manage chronic neighborhood stressors.

Faculty
Dr. Seungjong Cho, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work; College of Arts and Sciences

Community Partners
Danielle Demetria East, East Lubbock Art House
Bethany Luna, M.S., LMFT-S, Phoenix Moon Healing


PRESIDENT’S EXEMPLARY PROGRAM AWARD

2026 Award Recipient
Project: “Institute for Leadership Research (ILR) Applied Leadership and Decision-Making Initiative”

The Institute for Leadership Research (ILR) Applied Leadership and Decision- Making Initiative was developed to address a critical community need across West Texas: improving leadership effectiveness, team coordination, and ethical decision-making in high-uncertainty environments. Regional organizations – including public safety agencies, agricultural operations, nonprofit foundations, and business chambers—face increasing complexity, workforce challenges, and crisis-level pressures without access to research-based leadership development resources. This initiative integrates evidence-based leadership, decision-making, and team science into customized workshops and applied engagements with community partners such as Lubbock Fire Rescue, CASFER at Texas Tech, the Abell-Hanger Foundation, Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, and Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Grounded in organizational behavior research, the project translates peer-reviewed scholarship into actionable tools for practitioners. It emphasizes reciprocal knowledge exchange: community partners shape content based on their operational realities, while faculty integrate field insights into teaching, research, and publications.
 
Faculty
Dr. Chandra Pathki, Assistant Professor of Practice, Department of Management, Rawls College of Business

Community Partners
Lubbock Fire Rescue
Continental Dairy Facilities Southwest
The Abell-Hanger Foundation
The Lubbock Chamber of Commerce
The Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

University Partners
Dr. Bill Gardner, Paul Whitfield Horn Professor; Jerry S. Rawls Chair in Leadership; Director, Institute for Leadership Research, Rawls College of Business
Dr. Donald Kluemper, John B. Walker Endowed Professor of Business; Management Area Coordinator, Rawls College of Business

RECOGNITION OF COMMUNITY-ENGAGED LEARNING (CeL) FACULTY AFFILIATES PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

Community-engaged Learning integrates engagement with external communities into coursework to deepen students’ academic learning and promote civic responsibility. CeL pairs academic knowledge with a community need to foster societal impact. It is focused on sustained, collaborative, and reciprocal partnerships; it encourages students to work alongside community members, addressing long-term social issues and contributing to community-driven solutions.

Cohort 1 Participants
2025-2026

Kyle Roberson
Michelle Alcorn
Jason Headrick
Shera Jackson
Andrea Button
Vikram Baliga
Muntazar Monsur
Mahyar Hadigi
Priya Ganguly

Cohort 2 Participants
2026-2027

Debra Lavender-Bratcher
Mallory Prucha
Paola Guerrero
Amir Baratijourabi
Rula Al-Hmoud
Clarence McFerren
Andrew Castilleja
Rebecca Larsen
Andres Gandara

RECOGNITION OF GRADUATE ENGAGEMENT MICRO-CREDENTIALING (GEM) PILOT PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

The Graduate Engagement Micro-credential is an eight-course series designed to help graduate students build the skills, mindset, and mentorship needed to connect their academic work to real-world impact. Each course is fully online, self-paced over six weeks, and offered on a rolling basis each semester. Students receive a micro-credential after each course and a comprehensive credential—along with formal recognition from the Office of Outreach & Engagement—after completing all eight courses.

Pilot Program Participants
Spring 2026

Adebayo Adeotio - Davis College of Agricultural Sciences
Sarah Alba-Diaz - University of Texas at El Paso, College of Liberal Arts
Kaitlyn Anderson - Davis College of Agricultural Sciences
Gabrielle Bailes - Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
Elathan Bowling - Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
Brianna Cooper - University of Texas at El Paso, College of Liberal Arts
Jacqueline Gutierrez - College of Media and Communication
Justine Hollingshaus - Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
Lauren Huff - Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
Riley Lopez - Davis College of Agricultural Sciences
Germaine Njoh - College of Health & Human Sciences
Hildah Ogada - College of Health & Human Sciences
James Murphy - Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
Michelle Strong - College of Health & Human Sciences

April 15, 2025

11:30 – 1:15 p.m.

Museum at Texas Tech Sculpture Court

Hosted by the Office of Outreach and Engagement as part of Texas Tech’s Discoveries to Impact Month.

Thank you to the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost for their support.

Thank you to our Discoveries to Impact Partners: CISER, TrUE, The Innovation Hub, and the Museum at Texas Tech University.

The Offices of the President, Provost, and Associate Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 President's Engaged Scholarship Awards. These awards recognize Texas Tech faculty for an exemplary and sustainable engaged scholarship project or activity that addresses an important community need and/or discovers solutions to larger societal issues based on mutually beneficial partnerships with communities. The winning project/activity shows evidence of significant impact on communities/society, as well as teaching and learning, research and creative activity, and scholarship. It carries a monetary prize of $2,000.

This year,  Outreach and Engagement recognized a total of four projects with the President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award in the following categories:

• Excellence in Engaged Service 
• Excellence in Engaged Teaching 
• Excellence in Engaged Creative Activity
• Excellence in Engaged Research

The following are descriptions of each winning project: 

 

"Reducing Mental Health Concerns in Family Members with Dementia in Lubbock and Rural Texas"

Excellence in Engaged Service

Recent estimates suggest that Lubbock County could have over 5,000 individuals that are suffering from some sort of dementia, and most of the patients have at least one informal caregiver (e.g., spouse; sibling) who is responsible for their care. Informal caregivers face significant increases in stress and decreases of resources thus leading to an increase in mental health concerns such as depression and generalized anxiety. Dr Singer along with graduate and undergraduate psychology students work collaboratively with the Garrison Institute of Aging to provide mental health services for informal caregivers.

TTU Faculty Leader: 

Dr. Jonathan Singer, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences

Community Partners: 

Garrison Institute of Aging

 

"South Plains Clothing Design Challenge"

Excellence in Engaged Teaching

South Plains Clothing Challenge (SPCDC) is a service-learning project that provides custom-designed outfits for foster children living in the Children's Home of Lubbock. TTU apparel Design and Manufacturing students in their third and fourth years work collaboratively with their respective child to determine clothing preferences, preferred functionality of the garment, and any limitations related to design materials. The SPCDC has several goals, one of which is to alleviate the impact of poverty on children living in a group home and create pathways out of poverty through exposure to new information and a potential career path.

TTU Faculty Leader: 

Ashley Rougeaux-Burnes, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Design, College of Human Sciences

Community Partners: 

Children's Home of Lubbock

 

"Social Engagement as Care: The Animation-Making Workshops (AMW) at TTU"

Excellence in Engaged Creative Activity

Since 2019, the Animation-Making Workshops (AMW), part of the J.T & Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts' Texas Tech NEA Research Lab, services under-or-misrepresented community groups in the context of a research project that seeks to assess the affordances of the animation making process as educational and therapeutic tool. AMW takes advantage of the experiences developed by socially engaged animation practitioners, and benefits from established methodologies used in the areas of Art Therapy, Digital Storytelling, and Filmmaking as Psychotherapy. This session will expound on the a case study that was organized in partnership with the Office of Dispute Resolutions of Lubbock County/Juvenile Justice Youth and Center for Collegiate Recovery Communities.

TTU Faculty Leaders: 

Dr. Jorgelina Orfila, Associate Professor, School of Art, J.T & Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts

Dr. Francisco Ortega, Associate Professor, School of Art, J.T & Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts

Community Partners: 

Burkhart Center for Autism Education and Research

Bean Elementary School

Parkway Sommerville/ Guadalupe Center

The Office of Dispute Resolutions of Lubbock County/Juvenile Justice Youth

Lubbock Arts Alliance

The TTU Center for Collegiate Recovery Communities

 

"The Importance of Community Engaged Scholarship and Research to Address Ongoing Vietnam War Legacies"

Excellence in Engaged Research

The Institute for Peace & Conflict (IPAC) is dedicated to promoting understanding of the American experience at war, diplomacy, peace, and the impact of postwar legacy issues and how they affect reconciliation and healing from war for all participants and nations. Together, IPAC/VNSA have successfully leveraged their engaged scholarship and research to develop programs that address several important community and societal needs regarding legacies of the Vietnam War, especially the international humanitarian effort to find soldiers still missing from the war.

TTU Faculty Leaders: 

Dr. Ron Milam, Associate Professor of History and Executive Director for the Institute of Peace & Conflict, College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Stephen Maxner, Director, Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive

Dr. Uyen "Carie" Nguyen, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Research Partner Fellow, Institute of Peace & Conflict

Dr. Alex-Thai D. Vo, Research Assistant Professor, Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive

Mike Dutill, Head of Information Technology, VNCA

Community Partners: 

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Ministry of National Defense, Vietnam

U.S. Vietnam Veterans and Families

Vietnamese War Veterans and Vietnamese American Families in the U.S.

Vietnamese War Veterans and Families in Vietnam

 

PRESIDENT'S EMERGING ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award recognizes TTU faculty for a relatively new project or initiative that demonstrates high potential for the advancement of engaged scholarship. The project or initiative shows outstanding promise for having a significant impact on communities and the university. It carries a monetary prize of $1,000.

This year, Outreach and Engagement recognized two projects with the President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award.  

 

"Let My People Go: The Old Canaan Cemetery Bioarchaeology Project"

The Old Canaan Cemetery Bioarchaeology project is a community engaged archaeological field project in partnerships with the living members of the New Canaan Missionary Baptist Church community in Marshall, Tx. Drs. Anna Novotny and Tamra Walter, are working collaboratively with church deacons and church members to document the church cemetery, including size, number of graves, establish the biological profiles of those buried there as well as creating a better infrastructure to visit and maintain the cemetery. TTU researchers hope to create an archaeological protocol that can be replicated at other endangered historic cemeteries.

TTU Faculty Leaders: 

Dr. Anna Novotny, Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences 

Dr. Tamra Walter, Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology Anthropology, and Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences 

Community Partners: 

New Canaan Missionary Baptist Church

 

"Supporting Animals and Veterans through Enrichment (SAVE)"

An increasing number of US military veterans are accessing education benefits, but the stress of reintegration compounded with any existing post-traumatic stress can significantly impact their health and wellness. The aim of this project is to develop a program where student veterans can come and interact with and socialize shelter dogs on a routine basis. The project involves brief interactions between student veterans and shelter dogs to explore if student veterans' report an improvement in mood states post-interaction and if shelter dogs display reduced behavioral indicators of stress during the interaction compared to in shelter assessments. This project involves partnerships with the TTU Military and Veterans Program, TTUHSC Veterans Resource Center, and the Lubbock Animal Shelter and Adoption Center. SAVE was launched in Spring of 2022 and finished data collection in January 2023. The results of this exploratory project will be used to inform future intervention research aimed towards developing a standardized program to concurrently support veteran and shelter dog well-being within the Lubbock community. 

TTU Faculty Leaders: 

Dr. Anastasia Stellato, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Animal and Food Sciences, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Dr. Katy Schroeder (adjunct faculty), Assistant Professor, Dept. of Counselor Education, University of Iowa

Gracie Guerra, Director, TTU Military and Veterans Programs

Matt Knight, Unit Manager, TTU Milirary and Veterans Programs

Sara Henly, Director, TTUHSC Veterans Resource Center

Community Partners: 

Lubbock Animal Shelter and Adoption Center

 

President's Exemplary Program Award

The President's Exemplary Program Award recognizes TTU faculty for projects demonstrating outstanding academic engagement and commitment to addressing a community need or larger social issue. The award recognizes the program's impacts on both the community and the university (faculty, staff, or students).

This year, Outreach and Engagement recognized two projects with the President's Exemplary Program Award.

 

"The R.E.Y.N.A (Reducing Encounters with Youth through Neighborhood Alliances) Project, with the Lubbock Police Department"

Dr. Pusch and Anish Quenim established a partnership with the Lubbock Police Department Community Engagement Unit (LPDCEU) and proposed R.E.Y.N.A. as a possible intervention project. With faculty, students, LPD, and Community working in unison, Dr. Pusch and Anish hope to establish measure to predict, intervene and positively influence community youth who are at risk of first-time arrest and re-arrest. In this session, the presenters will discuss the following topics: Assessing juvenile delinquency in Lubbock, Evidence -based crisis negotiations for community crisis intervention, Interdisciplinary partnerships for community success, asset-based community development, and going beyond the classroom with student community engagement for academic success.

TTU Faculty Leaders: 

Dr. Natasha Pusch, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Adam Schmidt, Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychological Science, College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Trent Seltzer, Associate Professor, Public Relations and Strategic Communication Management, College of Media and Communication

Dr. Andrea Button-Schnick, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, College of Arts and Sciences 

Community Partners:

Lubbock Police Department Community Engagement Unit

 

"Raider Cre8tive Advertising Student Agency Keeps Families Close"

Cindie Buckle, an advertising and brand strategy lecturer in the College of Media & Communication, and her students in the Raider Cre8tive Student Advertising Agency developed a partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Southwest (RMHCSW) where they plan, execute, and evaluate campaigns for nonprofit fundraising events to benefit RMHCSW. Since this collaboration began in 2020, students have raised $15,000 in donations from local businesses. The active learning method of teaching advertising campaigns provides TTU students the opportunity to apply learned skills and engage in real world opportunities.

 

TTU Faculty Leader:

Cyndie Buckle, Lecturer, Dept. of Advertising, College of Media and Communication

Community Partners: 

Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Southwest

The Offices of the President, Provost, and Associate Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement are pleased to announce the Recipients of the 2022 President's Engaged Scholarship Awards. These awards recognize Texas Tech faculty for an exemplary and sustainable engaged scholarship project or activity that addresses an important community need and/or discovers solutions to larger societal issues based on mutually beneficial partnerships with communities. The winning project/activity shows evidence of significant impact on communities/society, as well as teaching and learning, research and creative activity, and scholarship. It carries a monetary prize of $2,000.

This year, University Outreach and Engagement recognized a total of four projects with the President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award in the following categories:

• Excellence in Engaged Service 
• Excellence in Engaged Teaching 
• Excellence in Engaged Creative Activity
• Excellence in Engaged Research

The following are descriptions of each winning project: 

"Clinical Programs of the School of Law"

 Excellence in Engaged Service

The TTU School of Law's Clinical Programs have, for the past 21 years, worked collaboratively with community partners to provide legal and professional services at no cost to those who would otherwise be financially unable to obtain such services. As a means of measurably increasing access to the legal system and the protection of basic human rights, collaborative partnerships have been developed between the Clinical Programs and various non-profit organizations and governmental entities to advance access to justice through leveraging additional resources for addressing the unmet need for services while, at the same time, providing experiential learning opportunities for law students.  Each of these clinics provides meaningful access to the courts and promotes more equitable treatment in the civil and criminal legal systems in Texas.  Students gain practical skills training under the close supervision of faculty.  In addition, participation in the Clinical Programs instills in law students a commitment to public service throughout their professional careers.  

TTU Faculty Leaders:

•  Larry Spain, Professor of Law
• Patrick Metze, Professor of Law
• Dwight McDonald, Professor of Law
• Terry Morgeson, Professor of Law
• Donnie Yandell, Professor of Law
• Wendy Tolson Ross, Professor of Law
• Alison Clayton, School of Law
• Gene Valentini, School of Law
• Marya Lujan, School of Law
• Nancy Mojica, School of Law
• Elma Moreno, School of Law
• Lori Obando, School of Law 

Community Partners: 

• Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas
• Coalition of Community Assistance Volunteers
• Office of Dispute Resolution
• Texas Indigent Defense Commission
• Lubbock Private Defenders Office

"STEM Explorers Program"

Excellence in Engaged Teaching

The STEM Explorers Program started in Lubbock during the spring semester of 2019 as a disciplinary alternative education program within Lubbock ISD with six students as a STEM/robotics education and behavioral intervention and has grown to include six sites in the spring of 2022.  It explicitly incorporates social and emotional learning and cognitive behavioral techniques and strategies to support students beyond the STEM content. There has been marked improvements in student behavior, attitudes toward school, academic achievement, and future interest in both STEM and education. The program also provides undergraduate students, many studying to become teachers themselves, with an opportunity not found in many courses.

TTU Faculty Leader: 

Dr. Daniel Kelly, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, TTU College of Education

Community Partners: 

• Lubbock Independent School District
• High Point Village 

"Voices from the Vernacular Music Center: A Podcast in Community Arts and Education"

Excellence in Engaged Creative Activity

Voices from the Vernacular Music Center (VVMS) is a podcast that consists of 30 1-hour episodes about the various ways, diverse reasons, and impacts of people sharing music, dance, and culture. The project highlights how inclusive, collaborative, regionally and culturally informed programing creates high-quality, accessible resources for learners, teachers, and communities.

The project draws upon intellectual and human resources from across and beyond the Texas Tech system and the regions of the Southwest. The VMC has long-standing professional and organizational relationships with a range of advocacy organizations such as Balfolk, Lubbock, Roots Music Institute, the Country Dance and Song Society, the International Bagpipe Conference, and other international programs. All 30 episodes are available for all persons to stream for free.

TTU Faculty Leaders:

Dr. Christopher Smith, Professor and Director of the Vernacular Music Center, School of Music, J.T. and Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts

Dr. Roger Landes, Professor of Practice & Associate Director of the Vernacular Music Center, School of Music, J.T. and Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts

Community Partners:

Balfolk Lubbock

Roots Music Institute

"Community Engagement Through Coral Reef Research Initiatives"

Excellence in Engaged Research

Coral reefs are vital to healthy marine ecosystems but are in serious decline due to pollution, global warming, and other threats. This decline also has serious ecological consequences to communities that rely on tourism to coral reefs as a central source of income. To address this threat, Dr. Stephanie Lockwood, Department of Biological Sciences at TTU at Waco began a multinational, study abroad undergraduate research program to engage students in coral reef research. In partnership with McLennan Community College and several Honduran organizations including the Roatan Institute for Marine Science and Roatan Marine Park, this initiative allows students to take an active hand in research and conservation, connecting the ocean to the classroom. This initiative aims to promote safe and sustainable means to preserve the rehabilitate the coral reefs in Honduras, as well as to help enrich the lives of the island youth.

TTU Faculty Leader:

Dr. Stephanie Lockwood, Associate Professor of Practice, Dept. of Biological Sciences, TTU College of Arts and Sciences

Community Partners:

McLennan Community College

Roatan Institute for Marine Science

Roatan Marine Park

SOL: International Foundation

PRESIDENT'S EMERGING ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award recognizes TTU faculty for a relatively new project or initiative that demonstrates high potential for the advancement of engaged scholarship. The project or initiative shows outstanding promise for having a significant impact on communities and the university. It carries a monetary prize of $1,000 and recognizes one faculty-led project or initiative.

"Mental Health Screening and Prevention within Elementary Schools"

An estimated 12 to 22% of children and adolescents meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder, and rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation/behavior among this age group have been rising sharply group over the last decade. Emerging evidence also suggests that the last two years of the global pandemic have taken a further toll on youth's mental health. The unfortunate reality is that upwards of 50% of youth in need do not receive services, and of those that do, 50% terminate treatment early. Taken together, there is a pressing need for novel approaches to mental health screening as well as prevention and intervention. Dr. John Cooley, a clinical child psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences developed partnerships with two elementary schools in Frenship Independent School District in April 2021. Following several meetings with school administrators, they developed a comprehensive, evidence-based child and teacher assessment to identify the mental health needs of the students in the third through fifth grade.

Based on the assessment results, the team is now providing a group-based preventive intervention for these students lasting through April 2022. The plan is to continue and build on this work throughout the 2022-2023 school year. The program also provides opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to develop research skills and learn strategies for developing and maintaining effective community partnerships.

TTU Faculty Leader:

Dr. John Cooley, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences

Community Partners:

Frenship Independent School District

North Ridge Elementary School

Willow Bend Elementary School

President's Exemplary Program Award

The President's Exemplary Program Award recognizes TTU faculty for projects demonstrating outstanding academic engagement and commitment to addressing a community need or larger social issue. The award recognizes the program's impacts on both the community and the university (faculty, staff, or students).

"Texas Education Policy Fellowship Program (TX-EPFP)"

Three TTU faculty members, Drs. Rebecca Hite, Jessica Gottlieb, and Jon McNaughtan, over three years have designed and implemented a nine-month in-depth community-engaged 
service program that recruits and professionally develops cohorts of mid-level leaders from across the state of Texas. The mission of the EPFP nationally and here at the Texas site is to expand participants' knowledge of education policy, develop fellows' situated skills in advocacy-based leadership, and help them cultivate new networks and connections among policy scholars, equity experts, and community leaders in education. Upon graduation, fellows are equipped, empowered, and engaged in improving problems of policy and practice in P-20 Texan education and beyond. 

TTU Faculty Leaders: 

• Dr. Rebecca Hite, College of Education, Educational Psychology, Leadership, & Counseling
• Dr. Jessica Gottlieb, College of Education, Educational Psychology, Leadership, & Counseling
• Dr. Jon McNaughtan, College of Education, Educational Psychology, Leadership, & Counseling

Community Partners: 

• Mid-Level P-20 Texas Educators

The Offices of the President, Provost, and Associate Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement are pleased to announce the Recipients of the 2021 President's Engaged Scholarship Awards. This annual awards program recognizes individual Texas Tech faculty and teams of faculty from all disciplines who demonstrate exemplary and sustained commitment to mutually beneficial engagement with community partners. Recognized faculty apply their teaching, research, or creative activity to address a significant community need or larger social issue, trying to find solutions that may improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.

The three President's Engaged Scholarship Awards include:

• President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award
• President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award
• President's Exemplary Program Award

The following are descriptions of each winning project: 

PRESIDENT'S EXCELLENCE IN ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award recognizes TTU faculty for a longer-term project or initiative that demonstrates a significant and sustained commitment to addressing a community need or larger social issue through active collaboration with community partners. It carries a monetary prize of $2,000 and recognizes up to two faculty-led engaged scholarship projects or initiatives.

TWO WINNING PROJECTS:

1. "A University-to-District Partnership in Leadership Preparation: The Co-Construction of the Texas Tech University Principal Fellows Residency Program"

Historically, community schools have struggled to effectively serve the changing demographic, including Latinx and Black student populations. To address systemic issues voiced by local school districts, the Texas Tech University Principal Fellows Residency Program began with a partnership between Lubbock ISD and the College of Education Leadership Faculty to impact an equity and social-justice-driven principal preparation pipeline in education, and produce a diverse pool of job-ready aspiring leaders to mirror the growing Latinx and Black demographics of the Lubbock ISD. Together, Lubbock ISD leaders and TTU Faculty visited and examined nationally recognized programs and Wallace Foundation research to create a plan to replicate a national model in the context of both Lubbock and the Texas school systems.

The pilot residency partnership included a joint selection of three highly effective diverse teachers. They began a 15-month job-embedded journey to learn as resident interns from mentor principals and TTU Educational Leadership faculty coaches, to grow struggling teachers and at-risk students in real-time using "just in time" curriculum filled with teacher and student data. The innovative job-embedded curriculum for principal residence training was developed with context-specific explicit competency-based feedback, shaped through instructional coaching and the use of both face-to-face presence and video capture to innovatively train principals in real-time.

The Principal Fellows Residency Program has grown into a university-to-district alliance between TTU Educational Leadership Program Faculty and school district leaders and partners who support the preparation of highly effective teachers for a school leader career (i.e., Assistant Principal or Principal) in partnership districts. Faculty have worked diligently with local, state, and state-border districts to build partnerships that improve educational equity and student outcomes. The eight-year collaboration has graduated 80 Principals in Residence and continues to grow strong. It builds the next generation of instructional leaders for the partnering districts through leadership competencies, job-embedded skill development, investment in human capital, and national and state standards. The reciprocity moves beyond degree and certification completers for TTU, and residents now serve as instructional coaches, assistant principals, principals, and in Texas Education Agency leadership roles in state and local communities. They lead the learning of others; they impact the knowledge, skills, and mindset of teachers and students by applying the equity frameworks and job-embedded social justice skills they learned in the Fellows Residency program to lead school improvement efforts.

Award Winners: 

• Dr. Fernando Valle, Professor, Interim Special Education Department Chair, Department of Educational Psychology, Leadership, & Counseling, TTU College of Education
• Dr. Irma Almager, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership, TTU College of Education
• Dr. Vanessa de Leon, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership, TTU College of Education
• Dr. Dusty Palmer, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership, TTU College of Education
• Dr. Selenda Cumby, Instructor, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership, TTU College of Education

Community Partners: 

• Lubbock ISD 
• Grand Prairie ISD

2. "West Texas 3D COVID-19 Consortium: Community Engagement to Combat a Global Pandemic"

Faculty, staff, and students from Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Health Science Center (TTUHSC) formed the West Texas 3D COVID Relief Consortium (WT3D) to develop a supply chain to design, manufacture, assemble, and deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical devices to frontline workers across West Texas. Partnerships with surrounding hospitals, referral centers, nursing facilities, state hospitals, and other frontline facilities were formed to determine needs. In addition, partnerships with local manufacturing companies were formed to meet these needs, and a partnership with Angel Flight enabled the delivery of much-needed medical materials.

The WT3D provided the West Texas community with over 16,000 face shields, 250 intubation chambers, and 10,000 ear savers/guards with 76 hospitals receiving face shields, intubation chambers, and ear savers from WT3D. Other facilities with medical needs, including 25 referral centers, 50 nursing facilities, and 3 state hospitals also received PPE. Deliveries of PPE were made to first responders, the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and Arizona, VA Healthcare Centers, and clinics in Amarillo, Lubbock, and Big Spring. Surrounding Dental and Vision Centers, and 27 area correctional centers also received equipment. Approximately 5,000 face shields have been used for Texas Tech faculty and staff. The assembly of much of the PPE was done by student volunteers. While providing this valuable service, students have been educated in manufacturing processes, project management, and process planning. They have also been given ownership of the assembly process and optimized production while maintaining safety in operations. These students have become real-world problem solvers.

Furthermore, the research arm of WT3D generated and exchanged knowledge with network partners regarding item sterilization and reuse, face mask material effectiveness, and respirator fitting, which has also been shared with the community. The PPE combined with a commitment to research, innovation, and education has provided a means for West Texas to navigate the pandemic safely. The collaborations and networks that have been formed with the community have also been extended within the TTU system. Over seven separate colleges and schools within TTU and TTUHSC have been involved and collaborated in this work. Other entities, such as Athletics, Outreach and Engagement, and Research and Innovation, have also contributed. These collaborations have impacted the strength and togetherness of the TTU community in a desperate time and have led to practical solutions to abate the coronavirus while advancing engaged scholarship.

Award Winners:

Students Involved:

Texas Tech Health Sciences Center Partners:

Community Partners:

PRESIDENT'S EMERGING ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award recognizes TTU faculty for a relatively new project or initiative that demonstrates high potential for the advancement of engaged scholarship. The project or initiative shows outstanding promise for having a significant impact on communities and the university. It carries a monetary prize of $1,000 and recognizes one faculty-led project or initiative.

"Evaluation of a Crisis Intervention Training Program Among Police Officers and Recruits"

Responding to mental health and suicide crises among high-risk individuals in the community often falls to first responders, such as police officers. Crisis Management Training (CIT) among police officers is a first step toward suicide prevention and matching those in crisis with the appropriate services. Texas requires Lubbock Police Department (LPD) officers to complete a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), which includes psychoeducation, de-escalation techniques, and mental health and suicide crisis training to prepare officers for mental health and suicide emergencies. CIT, however, has not been rigorously evaluated to determine positive outcomes or barriers to the implementation of CIT skills. Additionally, no one has specifically identified what is (or is not) effective about CIT for suicide risk management. To best meet the needs of high-risk individuals and improve community safety, police officers must be equipped with effective skills to safely navigate crises, match individuals in crisis with the appropriate services, and save lives.

To address this community need, a team of Texas Tech faculty including Dr. Sean Mitchell, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, and Dr. Megan Thoen, Director of the TTU Psychology Clinic and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, are working together with the LPD to evaluate the local CIT program. Their research involves conducting assessments of officers' knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors related to mental illness/substance use/suicide risk and managing mental health and suicide crises before and after they complete the CIT program. The faculty members also evaluate officers' characteristics as well as experiences that may impact the effectiveness of the CIT program, and then follow up with officers after training to evaluate program material retention and longitudinal benefits.

The project results in mutually beneficial solutions as the research informs ways to improve CIT and supplemental training that benefit people in crisis and officer safety while also providing an opportunity for TTU scholarship and community involvement. The results of the study also have broader state-level policy implications since the 40-hour CIT program is a state-mandated response to the Sandra Bland Act, signed into Texas law in 2017. This act was a reaction to Sandra Bland, a woman who died by suicide in jail, and mandates that the criminal justice system (e.g., jails) divert people with mental illness and substance use problems to the appropriate treatment rather than jail. This project is truly a partnership with scholarship and community impact at the forefront.

Award Winners:

• Dr. Sean Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences, TTU College of Arts & Sciences
• Dr. Megan Thoen, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Director of the TTU Psychology Clinic, Department of Psychological Sciences, TTU College of Arts & Sciences

Community Partners:

• Lubbock Police Department (LPD) 

PRESIDENT'S EXEMPLARY PROGRAM AWARD

The President's Exemplary Program Award recognizes TTU faculty for projects demonstrating outstanding academic engagement and commitment to addressing a community need or larger social issue. The award recognizes the program's impacts on both the community and the university (faculty, staff, or students).

"The ACOM Block: An Innovative Course Structure to Engage Students with Industry"

The Agricultural Education & Communications (ACOM) block course format was developed by a team of four ACOM faculty members to address feedback received from alumni and agriculture industry representatives who suggested graduates needed additional development in problem-solving and critical thinking skills. In 2015, a study evaluating ACOM programs nationwide ranked Texas Tech University as the number one ACOM program in the country. To remain at the top and to stay relevant with industry trends, the TTU ACOM faculty implemented the new, unique course structure in 2017. The innovative block format combined two existing courses dedicated to publication production and campaign development with two new courses that focused on advanced design and media convergence to replicate a real-world communications work environment. These four senior-level courses are designed to give students a comprehensive, capstone learning experience. The program is the first and only agricultural communications program in the country to implement this type of learning experience.

Throughout the Block experience, students develop and incorporate the skills necessary to thrive in the agricultural communications industry, while engaging in service-learning projects with community partners and industry representatives. This combination of hard and soft skills includes writing, design, visual communication, sales, web development, social media planning, and campaign development, as well as critical thinking, problem-solving, strategic communication, and creativity. The ultimate learning outcomes from the ACOM Block include students publishing The Agriculturist magazine, honing writing skills, learning about visual communication, developing and implementing a communications campaign, creating video and social media content, finessing photography and graphic design skills, learning advanced web design techniques, developing professional portfolios, and writing research reports – all while engaging with the agriculture industry and community partners.

The creation of the ACOM Block has lead to an exponential growth of the TTU program and has matured to a point that it provides a more comprehensive educational experience for students. A total of 190 undergraduate students have experienced the unique four-course block structure within the ACOM program since its first semester in the spring of 2017. In the first three years of the ACOM Block's publication production course, which creates the Agriculturist magazine, students have published 384 pages of content, sold $101,610 in advertising (all of which is used to print and circulate the Agriculturist), and won national-level writing, photography, and design awards for their work on the magazine, including the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow's Excellence in Writing Award and first place online magazine, and the National Agricultural Alumni Development Association's first place student-produced magazine. The collaboration between courses in the block has also created a unique approach to curriculum development, especially among capstone-level learning experiences.

Award Winners: 

• Dr. Lindsay Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Practice, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, TTU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR)
• Dr. Courtney Meyers, Professor & Graduate Studies Coordinator, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, CASNR
• Dr. Courtney Gibson, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, CASNR
• Dr. Erica Irlbeck, Professor, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, CASNR

Community Partners: 

• Texas Department of Agriculture
• Lubbock County 4-H
• PETS of Lubbock
• Communities in Schools
• Legacy Play Village

 

How to Apply in 2022

Applications can be submitted by logging into Texas Tech Competition Space at ttu.infoready4.com. Deadline for applications is February 15, 2022. 

 

For more information, please contact
Grant Gerlich, Community Engagement Manager
University Outreach & Engagement
grant.gerlich@ttu.edu | 806-834-8933

The Offices of the President, Provost, and Associate Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement are pleased to announce the Recipients of the 2020 President's Engaged Scholarship Awards. This annual awards program recognizes individual TTU faculty and teams of faculty from all disciplines who demonstrate exemplary and sustained commitment to mutually beneficial engagement with community partners. Recognized faculty apply their teaching, research, or creative activity to address a significant community need or larger social issue, trying to find solutions that may improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.

Three President's Engaged Scholarship Awards were bestowed in April 2020. They include:

• President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award
• President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award
• President's Exemplary Program Award

The following includes descriptions of these awards and information regarding each winning project.

PRESIDENT'S EXCELLENCE IN ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award recognizes TTU faculty for a longer-term project or initiative that demonstrates a significant and sustained commitment to addressing a community need or larger social issue through active collaboration with community partners. It carries a monetary prize of $2,000 and recognizes up to two faculty-led engaged scholarship projects or initiatives.

TWO WINNING PROJECTS:

1. The Texas Liberator Project

In 2016, the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission approached Texas Tech University with the task of creating an educational tool by which students across Texas would be familiarized with the liberation of the concentration camps in the European Theater of War during the Second World War. The commission provided access to the Institute for Oral History at Baylor University's collected oral histories of Texans who were veterans of the Second World War and who played a role in the liberation of concentration camps across Europe. Using these testimonials, the team at Texas Tech University developed a digital app to help share the stories of the Texas Liberators with high school students across the state. Texas Tech created a narrative by which students could come to understand the extremes of savagery and fanaticism, humility, and humanity of the Second World War from the perspective of the American soldier.

The Texas Liberator Project includes an online application, website, large-format quality book display featuring the narratives of 21 Texas liberators, and an exhibit at the Museum of Texas Tech University. Teams of Texas Tech undergraduate and graduate students guided by the Texas Tech faculty project leaders took on the gargantuan task of honoring the men and women who sacrificed so much to ensure the liberation, survival, and memory of the Holocaust.

Project Leaders:

Aliza Wong, Associate Dean, TTU Honors College; Associate Professor of and Director of European Studies, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences
Rob Peaslee, Associate Professor, Chair, Journalism and Electronic Media, TTU College of Media and Communication
Randy Reddick, Morris Professor of Journalism, Journalism and Creative Media Industries, TTU College of Media and Communication
Jiawei Gong, Associate Professor, Digital/Transmedia Arts, TTU School of Art
Cameron Saffell, Assistant Director for Operations and Facilities, TTU Museum of Texas Tech University
Andy Gedeon, Exhibits Manager, TTU Museum of Texas Tech University

Students Involved:

Jeremy Huston, English, TTU College of Arts and Sciences
Ian Love, TTU College of Media and Communication
Stephanie Wuthrnow, TTU Heritage and Museum Sciences
Melissa Lambert, History, TTU College of Arts and Sciences
Shakil Shimul, TTU College of Architecture
Chad Campbell, History, TTU College of Arts and Sciences, TTU Honors College

2. Literacy Champions

As a component of the East Lubbock Promise Neighborhood grant, the Lubbock Independent School District (LISD) identified academic writing development as a significant need for K-12 students in the district and asked the Texas Tech College of Education to collaborate on providing support in addressing this need. Inadequate writing development of K-12 students has garnered national media attention over the lack of adolescent writing skills and the economic burden of their placement into developmental writing coursework in post-secondary settings. This trend is reflected in international achievement scores: one quarter of U.S. students in eighth and twelfth grade write "proficiently" (NAEP, 2011). While there is a significant research base for varied and authentic writing instruction, K-12 teachers consider these practices time intensive and irrelevant to the pressure of raising test scores. University faculty are considered out of touch with the immediate writing needs of struggling schools. In this context, literacy education scholars are turning toward engaged scholarship as an approach to bridge gaps between theory and practice to develop meaningful impact for K-12 students. Mellinee Lesley and Julie Smit have served as Literacy Champions to LISD for five years. Their partnership has evolved from working with multiple schools to focus on one high school with the highest writing needs. In collaboration with the instructional coach, they investigate how English teachers engage in continuous embedded professional development to transform their writing instruction and, as a result, how ninth and tenth grade students are developing their academic writing skills. While LISD has seen a rise in rigorous writing instruction and gains in writing achievement of their students due to the partnership, university faculty and graduate students have also benefited through manuscript production, presentations at national and regional peer-reviewed conferences, and extending the work of the ELPN grant to include additional external funding.

Project Leaders:

Julie Smit, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, TTU College of Education
Mellinee Lesley, Professor, Language, Diversity, and Literacy Studies, TTU College of Education

PRESIDENT'S EMERGING ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award recognizes TTU faculty for a relatively new project or initiative that demonstrates high potential for the advancement of engaged scholarship. The project or initiative shows outstanding promise for having a significant impact on communities and the university. It carries a monetary prize of $1,000 and recognizes one faculty-led project or initiative.

WINNING PROJECT:

Promoting Child Development, Inclusion, and Health Through Natural Learning

The Coalition for Natural Learning (CNL) is a collaboration between Texas Tech University faculty, Texas state agencies, departments, organizations, and childcare centers. It was created as a more formalized recognition of the ongoing multidisciplinary efforts between Dr. Kristi Gaines (Department of Design), Dr. Malinda Colwell (Human Development and Family Studies), Dr. Charles Klein, and Dr. Muntazar Monsur (Landscape Architecture). The CNL engages with its partners through research, teaching, service, outreach & engagement, working towards the common goal of creating environments that promote natural learning for children and their caregivers. In addition, environments are designed for people of different abilities (instead of disabilities), with the goal to create equitable spaces.

The work of the Coalition is providing state agencies, community leaders, administrators, educators, students, and parents resources for utilizing natural environments to promote the socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children. The team views their work as a springboard to a much broader approach to natural learning paradigms in which a multidisciplinary team can work to improve educational and life-style opportunities using natural systems and approaches.

Project Leaders:

Kristi Gaines, Associate Professor, Design, Associate Dean, TTU Graduate School
Charles Klein, Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Malinda Colwell, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, TTU College of Human Sciences
Muntazar Monsur, Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture, TTU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

PRESIDENT'S EXEMPLARY PROGRAM AWARD

The President's Exemplary Program Award recognizes TTU faculty for projects demonstrating outstanding academic engagement and commitment to addressing a community need or larger social issue. The award recognizes the program's impacts on both the community and the university (faculty, staff, or students).

WINNING PROJECT:

CASNR Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement Program

In 2018, the TTU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources began an innovative program to engage promising young adults with outstanding leadership in agricultural policy, natural resources, industry relations, and entrepreneurship. In an effort to address the increasing need for emerging leaders to fully understand the diverse issues, challenges, and opportunities affecting agriculture and rural America, the Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement (MILE) was designed to give CASNR undergraduate students a unique, high-impact learning experience. The MILE is a competitive, 14-student, three-semester leadership and professional development program that seeks to develop participants' personal and professional skills while exposing them to key issues affecting local, state, and national agriculture. Engaging MILE students with industry and community leaders is the program's primary focus. In the program's two years, MILE has partnered with agricultural and livestock organizations, financial institutions, and non-profit groups who are providing funding and programming opportunities to enhance students' leadership development. But not only that; the knowledge-sharing that occurs between the leaders in these organizations and TTU students creates a unique, high-impact experience that will propel them into their careers. MILE is making a positive impact on students and communities alike by creating a pipeline of trained, young leaders who are equipped with skills, knowledge, and understanding of the issues facing rural communities and the agriculture industry.

Project Leaders:

Lindsay Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Practice, Agricultural Education and Communications, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Cindy Akers, Associate Dean, Academic and Student Programs, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

HOW TO APPLY IN 2021

The 2021 call for proposals will open again in Spring 2021. At that time, applications can be submitted by logging into Texas Tech Competition Space at ttu.infoready4.com.

For more information, visit the Texas Tech University Outreach and Engagement website at outreachandengagement.ttu.edu.

In 2018, Texas Tech University launched a new faculty awards program. The "President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award" is designed to recognize TTU faculty for a project or initiative that demonstrates significant and sustained commitment to addressing a community need or larger societal issue through active, mutually beneficial partnerships with communities. The award carries a monetary prize of $2,000 and recognizes up to two faculty-led engaged scholarship projects.

In 2019, another awards category was added. The "President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award" is designed to honor faculty who are at the early stages of a project or initiative that demonstrates high potential for the advancement of engaged scholarship while showing outstanding promise for significant impact on communities and the university. It carries a monetary prize of $1,000 and recognizes one faculty-led project or initiative.

The 2019 awards recipients in both categories as well as an "exemplary program" category were recognized at the Regional Engaged Scholarship Symposium luncheon on April 10, 2019, as well as at the Faculty Honors Convocation on April 17. The following individuals and teams were honored for their leadership and commitment to engaged scholarship:

President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Awards

"Stakeholder Partnership to Impact Educational Services for Children with Visual Impairments"

Rona Pogrund, Professor of Special Education, TTU College of Education

A major concern in the field of education of students with visual impairments (who are primarily served by specialists who travel to local schools where the students attend) is how to determine the appropriate type and amount of service these students should receive. As a member of the Texas Action Committee for Education of Students with Visual Impairments, Dr. Rona Pogrund developed and led a subcommittee on Service Intensity comprised of representatives from Texas Tech University, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Regional Education Service Centers 4,10, and 11, local school districts, and Stephen F. Austin University to address this issue. The efforts of this collaborative group over multiple years led to the development and validation of two service intensity scales: the Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas (VISSIT) for TVIs and the Orientation and Mobility Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas (O&M VISSIT) for orientation and mobility specialists.

The impact of this partnership on both the community and the university has been significant. The use of the scales by practitioners is changing the amount of services that children with visual impairments are now receiving across the United States. The engagement has created a research focus that has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at professional conferences and webinars at the state, national, and international levels. Former and current doctoral students have been involved as co-presenters and co-authors of the project. The tools are now introduced into courses in the sensory impairment programs at TTU and are required to be used during the internship phase of the programs. They have also become a part of other visual impairment personnel preparation programs in the state. Graduate students and teacher certification candidates are now leaving the program with the knowledge and experience of how to determine service intensity with their future students who are visually impaired.

"Scholarship to Ensure Multiple Aspects of Public Health Communities"

Steven Presley, Professor and Chair, Environmental Toxicology, TTU College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Steve Presley and his research team have been consistently engaged with local, regional, and statewide public health and emergency response communities for more than sixteen years to address the perennial issue of human diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and other arthropods within the community. Community partners include the City of Lubbock, Lubbock County, the South Plains Association of Governments, and the Texas Department of State Health Services. More than thirty graduate students have been mentored through the program, each of them participating in collecting, identifying, and testing mosquitoes for various arboviruses, including the West Nile Virus. The data collected is shared with health authorities across the region and state to aid in their planning and response to emerging vector-borne disease outbreaks. It is also published in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Presley and many of his students have provided lectures and hands-on training to vector control technicians and public health authorities on mosquito biology and identification, as well as effective and newly developed mosquito collection and control technologies.

As a direct result of the various long-term collaborative relationships and partnerships with public health communities at the local, regional and statewide levels, Dr. Presley's team has developed more efficient and effective arthropod vector collection and testing methodologies. They have also gained a greater capacity for conducting research to achieve better understanding of the environmental and anthropogenic factors that influence pathogen transmission and insecticide resistance in potential vector populations. The direct engagement with public health and emergency response communities has also led to dozens of media interviews and public service announcements related to emerging disease threats, mosquito and other arthropod transmitted diseases, as well as methods to protect against exposure to vector-borne diseases. Overall, the most significant impact has been an increased awareness and understanding of emerging and arthropod-borne zoonotic diseases in the region.

President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award

"Lubbock County Justice and Mental Health Collaborative"

Lisa Gittner, Associate Professor of Political Sciences, TTU College of Arts and Sciences
Nathaniel Wright, Assistant Professor of Political Sciences, TTU College of Arts and Sciences
Jeff Dennis, Assistant Professor of Public Health, TTU Health Sciences Center

The Texas Criminal Justice System, without adequate equipment or personnel, increasingly provides care for individuals with Serious Mental Illness (SMI). In Texas, 43% of inmates receive mental health treatment, and nearly 50% of the inmates in the Lubbock County Detention Center (LCDC) have a history of mental illness. Lubbock County serves as the regional hub for inmate detention in rural West Texas, serving a 250-mile radius. To address resource gaps in SMI care, Lubbock County Detention Center, Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and Starcare began collaborating in 2016. The partnership has expanded to twenty public and non-profit agencies including Sunrise Canyon, City of Lubbock Police Department, Lubbock Private Defenders Office, District Attorney's Office, Mental Health Court Docket, Adult Probation Office, UMC Hospital, VetStar and more. In 2017, the Justice and Mental Health Collaborative (JMHC) was formalized with the award of a "Category 1 - Collaborative Count Approaches to Reducing the Prevalence of Individuals with Serious Mental Illness in Jails" grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

JMHC's goals are to build a collaborative infrastructure of criminal justice and mental health agencies for the West Texas region, develop information sharing and data analysis capacity for mental health data across agencies, and reduce individuals with SMI in the criminal justice system. The research objectives are to determine best practices for establishing community-university mental health partnerships; develop valid risk prediction and diversion success analytics; determine intervention points for individuals with mental health issues before criminal justice involvement; and develop a sustainability framework for the JMHC. The partnership has already assisted LCDC to more effectively evaluate its programs and services and document success. It has mobilized community resources for initiating and changing policies, programs, and practices surrounding serious mental illness in our local criminal justice system.

Exemplary Program Awards

"Regional Planning in Rockport"

Melissa Currie, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, TTU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Rockport, Texas, is the site of the August 25, 2017 landfall of Hurricane Harvey. The Category 4 storm caused significant damage locally, with catastrophic rainfall totals across Houston and Southeast Texas. Many homes, businesses and crafts (boats and airplanes) across Aransas County were lost or significantly damaged. This included Rockport City Hall and Rockport-Fulton High School. "Regional Planning in Rockport" involved a university-community partnership between the 2018 Regional Planning Studio in the TTU Department of Landscape Architecture and the City of Rockport, Texas. Students acted as consultants to the City of Rockport, providing planning and design services that assisted in the city's rebuilding process following the Hurricane. Early in the collaboration, city planner Amanda Torres expressed a desire to have a set of guidelines for low-impact development and green infrastructure that could be used by developers in current and future planning efforts. A charrette held in October 2018 with municipal and other leaders from involved community organizations provided a platform to express the community's needs to the class. Areas prone to flooding, commercial development zones, special areas for preservation, and other important community assets were identified to highlight areas the class would focus on.

Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and extreme flooding, are increasing not only in number, but also in magnitude or severity. They can no longer be thought of as the exception; but rather, the norm. These are community resilience issues that landscape architecture students must be prepared to tackle in their future careers. The Rockport project gave students experience in interacting with public officials, and created an enduring connection to the people and places for whom they were designing. Many students' projects displayed a greater degree of thought, investigation, creativity, and sophistication than what was produced on previous assignments. The partnership provided students with a transformative educational experience where they applied knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems they will likely encounter in future careers as landscape architects.

"Sexism | Cinema"

Allison Whitney, Associate Professor of Film & Media Studies, English, TTU College of Arts and Sciences
Elizabeth Sharp, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, TTU College of Human Sciences
Dana Weiser, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, TTU College of Human Sciences
Don Lavigne, Associate Professor, Classics, TTU College of Arts and Sciences
Michael Borshuk, Associate Professor, English, TTU College of Arts and Sciences
Jessica Smith, PhD Candidate, English, TTU College of Arts and Sciences

The Sexism|Cinema film series was created as a university-community partnership to explore sexism in film. It was developed in response to an incident that involved the circulation of two offensive pictures from a TTU fraternity party in September 2014. An interdisciplinary team of TTU faculty conceptualized this incident as a "paradox of catastrophe" in which a terrible situation was able to unify and stimulate activism. Recognizing the significant role that media plays in shaping cultural attitudes, beliefs, and social scripts with regard to gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, nationalities, and socio-economic class, the team decided to form the Sexism|Cinema Series in partnership with the Lubbock Alamo Drafthouse. The goal of the film series has been to examine inequities within films and the film industry at large. Faculty from Psychological Sciences; History; Theatre & Dance; English; Law; Community, Family, & Addiction Sciences; Critical Studies & Artistic Practice; Music; Art Education; Human Development & Family Studies; Classics; and Journalism & Creative Media Industries; as well as staff from the LGBTQIA office, Student Counseling, and the Center for Campus Life have served as speakers. Outside collaborations have also been fostered, including Mary Beltrán of UT-Austin and Andrea Wood of Arizona State University. Author Becky Aikman and film directors Sean Baker, Brigitta Wagner, and Julie Cohen have also participated.

Although the film series pre-dates Time's Up and #MeToo movements, faculty have been able to capitalize on these timely conversations and discuss sexual violence, workplace sexual harassment, romance, heteronormativity, and racism through the lens of film. Many faculty members have incorporated Sexism|Cinema as part of their curriculum and extra credit opportunities. Student responses indicate that the series is challenging critical thinking about gender, sexuality, and race in an accessible and enjoyable manner. Two academic papers have been published, which reference Sexism|Cinema. Now in its 9th semester, the series has become a mainstay of both TTU and Alamo Drafthouse programming with over 1,500 students, faculty, staff, and community members attending. The partnership has fostered a space in the community where people come together, discuss, and challenge how gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, and class are portrayed in movies.

During the Spring 2018 Faculty Honors Convocation, two Texas Tech faculty members were honored with the President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award. Sponsored by the Offices of the President, Provost, and University Outreach and Engagement, this new internal awards program recognizes individual faculty and teams of faculty who demonstrate exemplary and sustained commitment to engagement with community partners in their teaching, research/creative activity, or service.

 

Upper Llano River Watershed Protection Plan  

Dr. Tom Arsuffi, Director of the Llano River Field Station, was honored for his engagement with numerous public and private partners for the protection of the watershed in the Texas Hill Country. His partners include county judges, the Llano River Watershed Alliance, Hill Country Alliance, Texas Public Radio, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, Texas Agrilife, landowners, ranchers, school districts, and more. "Engagement is something I always thought was really important as a mission for the field station," says Tom. "I thought it was really critical that the research we do has applied applications. That it's meaningful to the public, the ranchers, the locals, the agencies, and so forth." Tom's engagement has resulted in the creation of the Upper Llano River Watershed Protection Plan (ULWPP) which was formally accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2016 and now represents a strategic systems approach to conserving healthy watersheds in a five county area of 50,000 people. ULWPP project funding has directly engaged more than 25,000 students and citizens through workshops, outreach, and active involvement in design and implementation.

Since ULWWP, the Llano River Field Station has produced and facilitated twelve publications, three dissertations, two postdocs, ten masters, and provided numerous invited talks at professional scientific/education conferences, public presentations, and Texas Public Radio Water Symposiums reaching tens of thousands of people. The City of Junction also provided funding for a $137K laboratory.

 

Transitioning Veterans' Service Delivery 

Col. Dave Lewis, Director of the Institute for Peace and Conflict in the Department of Political Sciences, was honored for his work in transitioning veterans' service delivery. His community partners include StarCare Specialty Health Systems, Lubbock County Detention Center, Lubbock County Sheriff's Office, Lubbock County Office of Dispute Resolution, Lubbock Police Department, and the South Plains Homeless Consortium. These partnerships have enabled over 4,000 military veterans in the Texas South Plains and Panhandle regions to gain access to resources during their transition from military to civilian life. Dave notes, "The community and university impact has been significant. Over 250 homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, veterans and their families have been housed within a thirty county area. Over 2,000 justice involved veterans were identified and approximately 700 were approached for services through a 20 county area."

The program has provided practical training to TTU undergraduate and graduate social work students. It has also resulted in the creation of the FASTRR (FIND, ASSESS, STABILIZE, TREAT, REASSESS & REINTEGRATE) service delivery strategy. The model is now nationally recognized and has been briefed to the U.S. Congress House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. The creation of a Veterans Studies Certificate program in Political Sciences is bringing additional culturally-competent mental health and social workers to the workforce as society continues to face challenges for transitioning veterans into our communities. Finally, this project has resulted in a partnership with TTUHSC for clinical research in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury that has the potential to significantly alter mental health treatment for veterans.