Dear Colleagues,

Today, Research, Economic Development and Innovation hosted the Madison Celebration of Research & Scholarship. While I was delighted to recognize the winners of the Provost Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship and the Madison Scholars, the highlight was the chance to catch up with colleagues and see a sample of the creative research you pursue.

If you’ve got questions about the Madison Promise, please join Anthony Tongen and me for the upcoming Open Forum on the University Strategic Plan Hosted by Academic Affairs and REDI. You can register online and submit questions prior to the event.

Below is just a small sampling of the exciting work going on in Academic Affairs.

• Dr. Karen Barnard-Kubow, Genomics Research Director and Education Coordinator in the Department of Biology, and colleagues published "Genomic signatures of polyploid origin and diploidization in Campanula americana” in Genome Biology and Evolution. The article provides new insight into how plants evolve back toward a diploid-like genome after whole-genome duplication.
  
  
• College of Education instructors Alicia Berry, Jen Dameron, Liz Ochoa, Dan Sawyer and Bonnie Yoder published “Lingering Guilt and Cautious Adoption: Examples of Post-Secondary Instructors’ Perception of Generative Artificial Intelligence” in the International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science. The article provides an overview of their work as an Instructor Cohort over the past year to investigate their own perceptions and use of generative AI.
  
  
• The most recent work from Dr. Ben Selznick, associate professor of Strategic Leadership Studies, with the Ohio State University College Impact Lab explores how religious, spiritual and secular identities shape faculty experiences across U.S. higher education. The interfaith study Including Faculty on Religious, Spiritual, and Secular Mattering (InFORM) surveyed more than 1,000 faculty members from 274 colleges and universities nationwide. The research finds that religious, spiritual and secular worldviews influence how faculty teach, conduct research and serve their institutions and the broader community, but few higher education institutions provide training to help faculty navigate those dimensions.
  
  
• An original immersive dance theater work –  salvajes– by assistant professor of Dance Javier Padilla premiered at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center earlier this year. Created with The Movement Playground and an eleven-person ensemble of JMU students, salvajes transformed the performance venue into a fictional world in which audiences moved freely through simultaneous scenes and relationships, making the act of watching itself part of the choreography. The project was supported by the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Office of Creative Propulsion and the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center.
  
  
• Department of Geology and Environmental Science associate professor Dr. Chiara Elmi published “Tracing lightning-induced mineralogical and physicochemical changes in a fulgurite using X-ray powder diffraction and Rietveld quantitative phase analysis” in the latest issue of Geological Magazine. She worked with two Geology students – now alums – on the article.

I know you’ve got a lot to share, so send your accomplishments – and those of your peers – to provost@jmu.edu anytime.

Sincerely,

Fletcher

Academic Affairs faculty and staff can email to contact the provost directly.

This is an open line of communication allowing faculty and staff to ask questions, but it is not a substitute from the crucial interactions they have with their academic unit head, department head and dean.

Students should contact AcademicQuestions@jmu.edu with questions.