New civic engagement research fellowships awarded

The UB 2020 Civic Engagement and Public Policy Research Initiative (CEPP) has expanded its faculty research fellowship offerings for the 2012-13 academic year, providing awards to eight faculty members for two new fellowships.

These new research fellowships are being offered in response to the need expressed by faculty for additional support for their external grant activities and to develop their ability to disseminate research results, according to Susan Mangold, professor of law and co-chair of CEPP’s Faculty Advisory Committee.

CEPP is in its fourth year supporting community-based research. The fellows are UB researchers who collaborate with community partners to address urgent and challenging concerns of social justice and public policy. The projects range in scope from local to international.

“We learned that the grant development and dissemination phases of community-based research were particularly challenging,” Mangold says. “As a result, the Faculty Advisory Committee of CEPP decided to focus new fellowships on those particular phases of research.”

Laura Mangan, CEPP coordinator, says that for 2012-13, three different research fellowships were awarded to faculty members from 10 departments across seven schools and the College of Arts and Sciences.

The new Civic Engagement Research Fellowships for Grant Development and Research Dissemination will provide fellows and their partners with up to $3,500 for their community-based research project.

Recipients of the Civic Engagement Research Fellowships for Grant Development and their community research partners are:

• Erin Kearney, assistant professor of second and foreign language education, Department of Learning and Instruction, Graduate School of Education: “Foreign Language Instruction in Head Start: Laying Foundations for More Multilingual and Pluralistic Civic Life”; community research partner: Bethel Head Start
• James Lenker, associate professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Public Health and Health Professions, and Jordana Maisel, director, outreach and policy studies, Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA) and Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Architecture and Planning: “Assessing the Impact of the Complete Streets Initiatives in Medium-to-Large Municipalities”; community research partner: GOBike Buffalo

• William Scheider, assistant professor, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions: “Community Engagement Research and Action to Reduce Air Pollution in Northwest Erie County”; community partner: Erin Heaney of the Clean Air Coalition

Recipients of the Civic Engagement Research Fellowship for Research Dissemination and their community research partners are:

• Yunju Nam, assistant professor, School of Social Work: “Long-Term Financial Security Among Older Low-Income Asian Immigrant”; community research partner: National Asian Pacific Center on Aging

• Corrie Stone-Johnson, assistant professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, Graduate School of Education: “College Readiness at the Crossroads: The Contemporary Challenge of Post-Secondary Preparation”; community partner: Maryvale Union Free School District, Cheektowaga
• Heather Orom, assistant professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions: “Growing Healthy Together: Using a Neighborhood Health Assessment to Engage Community Members in Collective Action for Health”; community partners: Office of Community Health Education and Outreach, Erie County Medical Center, and Delevan-Grider Community Center

• Matthew Withiam-Leitch, research assistant professor, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences: “Disability and Domestic Violence in Erie County: Facing the Challenge of Providing Community Services for Disabled Victims of DV”; community partner: Family Justice Center of Erie County
• Miriam Paeslack, assistant professor, Arts Management Program, College of Arts and Sciences: “Ineffably Urban, Imaging Buffalo”; community partners: Squeaky Wheel and PUSH Buffalo

UB researchers will be able to apply for both of these new fellowships again in early fall 2013.

CEPP announced in the fall recipients of the original Civic Engagement Research Fellowships for 2012-13. They are:

• Kathleen Kost, associate professor, School of Social Work: “Assessing Readiness for Change among Village Leaders in Tanzania,” with community research partner Immaculate Heart Sisters of Africa (ISHA), Kitenga, Tanzania.
• Jill Koyama, assistant professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, Graduate School of Education: “Collaboratively Tracing Refugee and Immigrant Newcomer Service Networks,” with community research partner Buffalo English Language Learners (BELL) Network.
• Ophelia Morey, associate librarian, Health Sciences Library, and Helen Wang, assistant professor, Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences, and research assistant professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions: “Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies: Developing Information Communication Strategies for Reducing Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates in Buffalo,” with community research partner Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network Inc.
• Tony Szczygiel, professor, UB Law School: “Canopy of Neighbors Public Benefits Screening Project,” with community research partner Canopy of Neighbors.
• X. Christine Wang; associate professor, Department of Learning and Instruction, Graduate School of Education: “iLearning³: Technology Enhanced Early Science and Literacy for Diverse Learners,” with community research partner PS 39 Martin Luther King Multicultural Institute, Buffalo Public Schools.