Â鶹ÊÓƵ

University of North Georgia (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) President Michael Shannon awarded 16 Presidential Awards for the 2025-26 academic year to support faculty projects. They included 11 Innovation Awards and five Semester Awards.

Dr. Ruohan Wu and Dr. Ning Wang, faculty members in the Mike Cottrell College of Business, are partnering on a project where they work with students to create a cost-of-living index for the local area and come up with finance strategies to help people deal with these realities. They began work on the project in the spring semester, and the Presidential Innovation Award will allow them to expand it during the 2025-26 academic year.

"We want to work together to increase financial literacy in the local area," Wang, an associate professor of finance, said.

Wu, a professor of economics, said the work allows the faculty members and students to partner with the Council for Community and Economic Research. The students are collecting price data of selected items each quarter to create the cost-of-living index.

"It's important to connect textbook learning to real-life experience," Wu said.

Dr. Jo Qian, an associate professor of biology, earned a Presidential Semester Award for her project "Paralyzed Fruit Flies: A Model System for Studying Human Diseases." Her goal with the project is to see how mutations of certain proteins in these fruit flies can mirror neurological or muscular diseases in humans.

Qian is grateful the award will allow her to create a high-impact, student-centered research environment.

"Our students are not only learning one technique. They are learning through hands-on research. They will gain a holistic view of doing biomedical research," Qian said. "This project could be a transformative experience for them that helps them go to graduate school."

Qian hopes to continue offering experiences like these in the coming years.

"My ultimate goal is to build a pipeline for undergraduate research at Â鶹ÊÓƵ," Qian said. "I hope this project can evolve into a more collaborative network."

Dr. Carolynn DeSandre, dean of the College of Health Sciences & Professions, and Holly Adams, director of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Community Counseling Clinic, are working together on a project that will help cadets who don't pass their physical fitness test get where they need to be so they can keep their scholarships and stay on track to commission.

Their work, supported by a Presidential Innovation Award, ties in with the Institute for Peak Performance and incorporates the five elements of the Army's Health and Holistic Fitness model: physical, mental, spiritual, nutritional, and sleep. Adams said it's all about balance.

"We're uniquely positioned as the Military College of Georgia. Not everyone has the privilege of being able to work with and help prepare the next generation of military leaders. We get to do that here," Adams said. "They will face unique challenges as they enter the military, so what can we do today, in this environment, to prepare them not only to be successful for this one experience, but to have success in their life in general? I'm very honored to be part of this."

Dr. Adam Frey, professor of music and director of instrumental studies, earned a Presidential Innovation Award for his project "Expanding a Musical Genre — Creating and Recording New Music for Euphonium and String Quartet."

"Without the administration's support, these projects would never happen. You need the dedicated time. You need financial support," Frey said. "You need a specific goal and a defined deadline."

Frey is working with the internationally renowned Vega String Quartet on the project. The group is an artist in residence at Emory University.

The project includes public concerts where the new pieces will be played, with one of those events at Â鶹ÊÓƵ and another at Emory.

Frey said his ambitious projects through the years have helped encourage his students to pursue and earn major career opportunities, including one who is part of the West Point Band and another who plays as part of the 116th U.S. Army Reserve Band.

"When students see their professors doing big things, they're motivated," Frey said.

Other Presidential Award projects include:

Presidential Semester Awards

• Dr. Ian Afflerbach, associate professor of American literature, "Sellouts! The Story of an American Insult."
• Dr. Lauren Bradshaw, associate professor of education, "Rebel Woman: Mildred Lewis Rutherford’s Confederate Legacy on the American Psyche."
• Dr. Dee Gillespie, professor of history, "Murder in Belton: Mountain Folk and Southern Womanhood on Trial in the New South."
• Dr. Katayoun Mobasher, professor of environmental spatial analysis, "Revolutionizing Geoscience and STEM Education: Creating an Immersive Learning Environment through Developing Innovative Video Games."

Presidential Innovation Awards

• Dr. Sarah Formica, professor of physics and Fuller E. Callaway Professorial Chair, and co-applicants Patty Condict, associate professor of mathematics, and Marnie Phipps, professor of mathematics, "Enhancing Student Success and Teacher Recruitment in Mathematics through Learning Assistant Integration."
• Sarah Hubbel, assistant professor of Spanish, "Customizing introductory Spanish courses for popular majors at Â鶹ÊÓƵ."
• Dr. Brian Maloney, assistant professor of physical therapy, and co-applicants Maria Jose Maguire, lecturer of Spanish; Dr. Charles Burrage, professor and coordinator of the Master of Science in kinesiology; Julia Tokarz, lecturer of nursing; and Cynthia Wagner, lecturer of nursing; "Professional Student Collaboration During an Interdisciplinary Bilingual Community Health Fair."
• Erin McIntosh, associate professor of visual arts, "Art & Behavioral Health: Collaborative Mural for the 'Day Room' at Avita Behavioral Health Crisis Center."
• Dr. Mohammad Reza Nourbakhsh, professor of physical therapy, and co-applicant Dr. Rachael Walton-Mouw, associate professor of physical therapy, "The role of deep breathing exercises and autonomic nervous system modulation on improving pain, muscle stiffness, and function in patients with chronic widespread pain."
• Dr. David Patterson, professor of biology, and co-applicant Dr. Christopher Seminack, associate professor of geology, "A transdisciplinary approach to reconstructing late Pleistocene paleolandscapes on the Georgia Coast."
• Dr. Jill Schulze, associate dean of the College of Science & Mathematics, and co-applicants Dr. Christian Bello Escobar, direct of academic and community engagement in the College of Education; Christopher Bryan, director of Undergraduate Recruitment; and Dr. Efren Velazquez, associate professor of psychological science; "Hispanic Student Peer Mentor and Leadership Program."
• Dr. Amy Williams, professor of elementary and special education, and co-applicant Dr. Kellie Whelan-Kim, professor of elementary and special education, "I Want to See ME: Curating Collections of Children’s Literature Featuring Characters with Disabilities."