Faculty and staff sketches

April 7, 2025 (Volume 48, Number 15)

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Samantha Dougel is pictured with Casey Jones, president and CEO of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. Dougel earned first place in the MAB Foundation Scholarship competition.

Faculty and staff members who have given presentations, were recognized for outstanding contributions or had their research published are detailed below. The campus community can submit a sketch online for future publication. 

In the News
Jennifer Pope, associate professor of marketing, was interviewed by WalletHub for a story about credit card annual percentage rates.

Robin Spring, associate professor of advertising and public relations, was interviewed by WOOD-TV for a story about Canada purchasing digital billboards in Michigan and other states with language about tariffs.

Economics faculty members Daniel Montenara and Cody Kirby were interviewed by Rapid Growth for a story about the health care labor market in Grand Rapids. 

Kara Van Dam, vice president and chief executive for Omni, and Al Shifflett, director of Southwest Michigan Omni, were interviewed by Second Wave Southwest Michigan for a story about the renovations to the building that will house the Battle Creek Innovation Hub. 

Vijay Bhuse, associate professor of computing, was interviewed by WWMT-TV for a story about a data breach at the Three Rivers Hospital.

Al Steinman, Allen and Helen Hunting research professor at AWRI, was interviewed by the University of Rhode Island Magazine (his graduate school alma mater) about his career and report on Michigan's Blue Economy.

Sketches
Samantha Drougel, a junior majoring in film and video production, and journalism, broadcasting, and digital media, earned first place in the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Scholarship and junior Carmela Patalan, a journalism, broadcasting, and digital media major,  earned the MAB Jerry P. Colvin Scholarship.

Shawntain Jenkins, director Central-West Michigan Omni, completed a doctoral degree in education at Central Michigan University and defended a thesis, "First-Year Transfer Retention Study Between Students of Color and White Students at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI)."

Melba Vélez Ortiz, professor of communications, Meijer Honors College, gave a keynote presentation, "We Are More Than Flesh, We Are Energy!," at the Disability Awareness Day conference held at the Kroc Center in Grand Rapids.

Nursing faculty Christina Quick, Barbara Hooper and Sherri Fannon, associate dean for interprofessional simulation, gave a presentation, "Multipatient Simulation Enhances Learning for Undergraduate Nursing Students: Trial by Fire," at the CBExchange in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Christina Quick, associate professor of nursing, was a co-author of an article, "NAPNAP Partners for Vulnerable Youth Position Statement on Trauma-informed Care," published in the Journal of Pediatric Healthcare.

Adrienne Wallace, associate professor of advertising and public relations, served as a co-editor and wrote a chapter in a book, Public Relations and the Rise of AI, published by Routledge.

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Faculty & Staff Sketches