SUMMER FELLOWSHIPS ARE AWARDED TO 13 JUNIOR FACULTY

Thirteen faculty members have been awarded $6,000 each in this year's Summer Faculty Fellowship Program competition. The number of awards is up by two from last year.

The fellowships, administered by the Old Dominion University Research Foundation, provide the faculty with funds and a small expense account while they conduct research or scholarly activities for an eight-week period during the summer. The funds that support this program come from indirect costs recovered from sponsored program awards to the university for faculty activities.

Michael Dingerson, associate vice president for research and graduate studies, believes that re-investing resources generated by the research enterprise into the career development and academic growth of the faculty is an important component of a systematic plan to nurture that enterprise.

"It is particularly critical to help new, untenured faculty just embarking on their careers to jump-start their activities at the institutional level in order to better prepare them to be competitive in the world of sponsored programs," Dingerson said.

"This program gives them that opportunity, as well as bringing their activities and goals to the awareness of our office. Even if a faculty member is not awarded funding, our awareness places us in a better position to help them further develop their strategies for obtaining grants or contracts."

The competition this year was notable, with 29 proposals submitted. The selection process includes peer review, much like faculty would encounter when applying outside of the university. That task is performed with the help of the Scholarly Activity and Research Committee and was made difficult this year by the number of high-quality submissions for funding, Dingerson said.

Faculty who are interested in the program are encouraged to contact the Office of Research and Graduate Studies for further information.

Recipients of this year's fellowships are:

�Mary Ann Clark, assistant professor of educational leadership and counseling: "Training Counselor and Teaching Interns to Teach Elementary Students to Communicate Caring and Respect for Self and Others."

�Lisa Eckenwiler, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies: "Moral Reasoning and Research Involving Human Subjects."

�Joel English, assistant professor of English: "Doing Synchronous, Methodological Research Within the Real-time Computer Classroom."

�Larry Filer, assistant professor of economics: "Evaluating Various Policy Responses to Large Capital Inflows."

�Gayle McCombs, assistant professor of dental hygiene: "Ultrasonic Periodontal Probe."

�Stephen Medvic, assistant professor of political science and geography: "Explaining Political Consultant Activity."

�Dale Miller, assistant professor of philosophy: "John Stuart Mill: A Philosophy of Happiness and Human Development."

�Peter Schulman, assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures: "Eccentricity and Revolt in Jules Verne's Vision of the Nineteenth Century."

�David Selover, assistant professor of economics: "Mode-Locking and Business Cycle Formation."

�Jennifer Slate, assistant professor of biological sciences: "Impact of Humans on Environmental Conditions in Lake Nicaragua for the Past 5,700 Years."

�Paul Stepanovich, assistant professor of community health professions and physical therapy: "The Effect of a Health Work Environment on Group Decision Making Performance."

�Bonnie Van Lunen, assistant professor of exercise science, physical education and recreation: "Effects of Hormonal Changes Throughout the Menstrual Cycle on Joint Laxity in Females."

�Chen Zhu, assistant professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences: "Silicate Reaction Kinetics in a Major Aquifer in Arizona."