Four Faculty Projects Earn Presidential Fellowships

Established by President Nirschel in 2002 to celebrate faculty member activities beyond traditional classroom instruction, the annual Presidential Faculty Fellowships have provided research time and funding for projects centered on topics as diverse as the University’s brand image, the Common Reading program for first-year students and wind power in the local community.

From a pool of proposals submitted by more than 20 faculty members, the following four projects earned fellowships for 2009-10:

• Associate Professor Brett McKenzie will explore initiatives designed to attract young women to careers in computer science and related fields;
  
  
• Professor Peter Alfieri will establish a summer language program at RWU that may potentially lead to a master’s degree in Italian or Spanish;
  
  
• Assistant Professors Loren Byrne and Charles Thomas will develop a curriculum on the topic of sustainability;
  
  
• Associate Professor Charles Hagenah will research ways to further the University’s efforts toward sustainable design on campus.

McKenzie says that the fellowships have encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty members: “A lot of the time you’re more inclined to take on projects within your discipline, because that’s where you’ll get published,” he says. “These awards allow you conduct explorations that are broader and don’t have such narrow focus. I think that’s something that’s really valuable about the Presidential Fellowships.”

Associate Professor Brett McKenzie works with local high school students at GRRL Tech, a college aspiration program hosted at RWU for young women interested in the sciences and technology.