Dr. Sloan received a grant of $10,000 from 4-VA at JMU! Grant funds will be used to support the first ever Regional Leadership Conference, hosted by the School of Strategic Leadership Studies! The conference will be held Thursday February 21st and Friday February 22nd at Hotel Madison Shenandoah Valley Conference Center. Save the dates and stay tuned for more details throughout the summer! The Call for Proposals will be released late summer-early fall to JMU, parternering 4-VA institutions, and other regional academic programs with a leadership, higher education, nonprofit, or organizational science/industrial-organizational psychology emphasis. Confirmed partners for the conference to date are George Mason University, Old Domnion University, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech.

Kurt Davies

Kiah DeVona

Brooke Z. Graham

Cover Heishman

Joe Loyacano

Whitney Tate

Morgan Veyna

Dissertation Title: Examining the impact of transformational and transactional leadership style on work attitudes, motivation, and work outcomes in nonprofit organizations

Dissertation Committee:

Margaret F. Sloan, Ph.D. (chair)           Strategic Leadership

Karen A. Ford, DSW                            Strategic Leadership

Adam J. Vanhove, Ph.D.                      Strategic Leadership

Dr. Dara Hall’s dissertation, “The Power of Feedback: An Indicator of Mentor Effectiveness during Student Teaching,” was selected as the recipient of the 2018 Association of Teacher Educators Distinguished Dissertation in Teacher Education Award! Dr. Hall presented her dissertation research at the 2018 Association of Teacher Educators Annual Meeting in February of 2018 in Las Vegas, NV. 

Dr. Noland's article Social Media Activists: Analyzing the Relationship between Online Activism and Offline Attitudes and Behaviors was published in The Journal of Social Media and Society in December 2017!

Noland, A. (2017). Social Media Activists: Analyzing the Relationship between Online Activism and Offline Attitudes and Behaviors. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 6(2), 26-55. Retrieved from http://www.thejsms.org/index.php/TSMRI/article/view/261.

Dr. Nickels was appointed Executive Director of Our Community Place February 1st of this year! Our Community Place is a Harrisonburg nonprofit committed to providing meals, support, and resources to members of the community facing difficult life circumstances. Learn more about Our Community Place and how you can help: http://www.ourcommunityplace.org/.

Over the last year, Dr. Nickels consulted on 8 legal cases and provided oral testimony on 3 as a "country conditions expert" on mental health systems in Central America to help prevent mentally incompetent persons from being deported by the U.S. government based on asylum and convention on torture laws.

In March, Dr. Nickels led a professionals learning tour of El Salvador's mental health system for immigration lawyers, clinical psychologists and social workers.

Dr. Terry Fernsler (recent graduate of our Nonprofit Concentration) presented his paper entitled "Nonprofit Leadership in Complex Adaptive Systems: Preparing for Leadership in Mult-Sectoral Networks and Emergent Systems" at Pennsylvania Sociological Society's 1st Annual Pennsylvania Leadership Studies Conference in April! The paper explores leadership characteristics in an applied complex adaptive social setting.  Utilizing a qualitative instrument developed for the study, leadership characteristics were identified using Complexity Leadership Theory as a basis.  These characteristics help practitioners understand the challenges of leading in complex systems and help them operate more effectively in uncertain and ambiguous conditions. 

 Fernsler, T. (2018, April). Nonprofit Leadership in Complex Adaptive Systems: Preparing for Leadership in Mult-Sectoral Networks and Emergent Systems. Paper presented at Pennsylvania Sociological Society's 1st Annual Pennsylvania Leadership Studies Conference, Dixon University Center, Harrisburg PA.

Publications:

Richards, K. & Mabrey III, P.E. (2018) “College Debate Community Climate: Data form the 2014 and 2015 College Policy Debate Survey.” Speaker & Gavel, 44-52.

Brigham, M.P. & Mabrey III, P.E. (2018) “’Homeland Security: Fighting Terrorism Since 1492’: A public Chrono-Controversy.” Decolonizing Native American Rhetoric: Communicating Self-Determination. Peter Lang Publishing. 

Conference Presentations:

Conis, A., Clay, M., & Mabrey III, P.E. (2018, April). “Debate across the curriculum as engaged learning: A Communication Center case study with exceptional education.” National Association of Communication Centers Conference, Harrisonburg, VA. 

Mabrey III, P.E. (2018, April). “Strategies for Forming & Publishing Communication Research: Perspectives from Authors and Editors.” National Association of Communication Centers Conference, Harrisonburg, VA. 

Mabrey, III, P.E. (2018, April) Argument Education in Higher Education: Preliminary Validity and Reliability Evidence for an Argumentation Assessment Instrument. Presentation at the Southern States Communication Association, Nashville, TN. * Top Faculty Paper for Argumentation & Forensics

Burnett, A., Mabrey III, P.E., & Mitchell, T. (2017, October) Digital Literacy in the 21^st Century: Learning outcomes, competencies, and skills. Presentation at the Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference, Harrisonburg, VA.

Hornsby, G. & Mabrey III, P.E. (2017, October) Flipping the Group Project Presentation. Presentation at the Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference, Harrisonburg, VA.

Other:

Hosted 150+ faculty and students from across the U.S. for the National Association of Communication Centers annual conference April 20-21, 2018 at James Madison University. The theme for the conference was “Communication as Engagement.”

SSLS Program Director Dr. Karen Ford is the recipient of Howard University's 2018 lnabel Burns Lindsay Social Work Education Leadership Award! She is the 7th person to receive this award that honors Howard University social work graduates who exemplify the educational leadership of its founding dean. Through her scholarship, Dr. Ford has highlighted the historically important contributions of African American leaders like Dr. Janie Porter Barrett and has been a champion of juvenile justice and contributed to the understanding of the importance of race in public policy through her teaching and activism. In addition to her scholarly and professional work, Dr. Ford is receiving this award for being a distinguished alumna of Howard University, "second to none in promoting the Black Perspective." 

JMU's College of Business recently selected Dr. Ford as a Foundation Faculty Fellow for exemplifying the values of the College of Business: integrity, intellectual growth, community, engagement, innovation/collaboration. This appointment is active for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years. 

Congratulations, Dr. Ford on your recent accomplishments and recognitions! 

Dr. Sloan was awarded a scholarly research grant as Principal Investigator from ASAE The Center for Association Leadership for her research project "Willingness to Donate: Are membership dues a substitute for donations?" Dr. Cleopatra Charles (Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration Newark) is the Co-Investigator of the project. “The research will address questions about the relationship between donations and membership dues, and how advocacy efforts might be increased among associations. Both topics will provide valuable information for our community, and we look forward to sharing the results,” said ASAE Executive Vice President and ASAE Foundation President Susan Robertson, CAE.

Recently presented at SIOP: 

Thornton, G. C. III, Rupp, D. E., Gibbons, A. M., & Vanhove, A. J. (2018). Same-gender and same-race bias in assessment center ratings: A rating error approach. In P. Ingold and B. J. Hoffman (Chairs), The AC, you, and me: Insights from an interpersonal perspective. Symposium conducted at the Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL. 

Vanhove, A. J., & **Lindberg, A. E. (2018, April). Free agent spending and team success: Implications for “make” versus “buy” decisions. Poster presented at the Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.

**In Collaboration with Organizational Science and Leadership student Adam Lindberg (also mentioned in Student News)

Accepted for presentation at the upcoming Academy of Management conference:

Vanhove, A. J., **Miller, A. D., & Harms, P. D. (2018, August). Unemployed and turking: Is Amazon Mechanical Turk a viable source for unemployment research? Presentation presented at the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL.

**In Collaboration with Organizational Science and Leadership student Andy Miller (also mentioned in Student News)

Accepted for Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication:

Vanhove, A. J., **Brutus, T., & **Sowden, K. A. (in press). Psychological health prevention programs in military organizations: A quantitative review of the evaluative rigor evidence. Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being.

 **In Collaboration with Organizational Science and Leadership Students Tiffany Brutus and Kristin Sowden (also mentioned in Student News)

Dr. Sloan and Dr. Ford will be presenting "Spanish Civil Society: Influences and Advancement" at the 13th International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) in July! The conference is hosted by the Philanthropic Studies Department of VU University Amsterdam. The study will explore how Spanish nonprofit leaders view civil society.

Andrew Miller pictured with Laura Ryman (Director of Student Support, The Graduate School)

Truong "Raymond" Vu (right) speaking with another Grad Showcase attendee

Alyse Lehrke

Alyse Lerhke presented at The 33rd Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP 2018) in April. Alyse was a presenter in the panel "Creating Space at Work for Women Leaders: An Organizational Learning Perspective" which focused on strategies to help organizations reframe approaches to work practices and leadership development to encourage a diverse and sustainable workforce. 

Alyse was also awarded a Regional Travel Grant by The Graduate School for her presentation at SIOP 2018!

Adam Lindberg

Dr. Vanhove and Adam Lindberg's poster "Free Agent Spending and Team Success: Implications for “Make” Versus “Buy” Decisions" was accepted for presentation at SIOP 2018. The poster examined the relationship between talent buying and organizational performance with Major League Baseball free agent acquisition data from 2006 to 2015. Findings indicate greater talent buying had no short-term effects but positive long-term effects, and organizational performance negatively predicted short-term turnover but positively predicted long-term turnover and talent buying.

In April, Adam served as a panelist in JMU Health Center's Men in Power Panel tomorrow. The panel aimed to raise awareness around Sexual Assault through discussion on the important roles men play in preventing interpersonal violence, initiating bystander intervention, and supporting all survivors. 

Andy Miller

Dr. Vanhove and Andy Miller have been accepted for presentation at the upcoming Academy of Management conference:

Vanhove, A. J., Miller, A. D., & Harms, P. D. (2018, August). Unemployed and turking: Is Amazon Mechanical Turk a viable source for unemployment research? Presentation presented at the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL.

Tiffany Brutus

Kristin Sowden

In collaboration with Dr. Vanhove, Tiffany Brutus and Kristin Sowden had a paper Accepted for a Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication:

Vanhove, A. J., Brutus, T., & Sowden, K. A. (in press). Psychological health prevention programs in military organizations: A quantitative review of the evaluative rigor evidence. Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being.