Second WAU Faculty Research Conference Coming Soon: Save the Date

In April 2024, the second annual Faculty Research Conference will be convened. Save the date. It will be held on the day immediately following the annual Students’ Convention. The actual date will be forthcoming. This event will mark the continuance of an initiative that was introduced to the Faculty Senate in 2022 by Dr. Andrea Baldwin, then president of the Senate, and executed in collaboration with the Faculty Development Committee, under the direction of Professor Kristen Mitas. This collaboration will continue. The major premise of this effort is to provide a space and opportunity for WAU Faculty and colleagues in academia in and outside of WAU to undergird their teaching enterprise with relevant and current research that can have a positive effect on academic scholarship, pedagogical effectiveness, student engagement, and intellectual applicability to the workplace. This inclusion in the teaching-learning process is of immense worth as humanity faces unavoidable macro-environmental developments in the PESTLE factors. One such revolutionizing agency is artificial intelligence. How will academic research and life in higher education be impacted? Then, there are issues of climate change, world hunger, poverty, wars, economic instabilities, reductions in broad-based student enrollment, and the impending ascendency of two-year vocational programs.

These were some of the topics explored in the first Faculty Research Conference which occurred in April 2023 especially in the keynote address presented by Dr. John Okon as he deliberated on the Impact of Climate Change, COVID-19 and the Russo-Ukrainian War. Following opening remarks by President Weymouth Spence and prayer by Provost, Cheryl Kisunzu, eight (8) research papers were presented at this conference, six (6) internally and two by colleagues from other universities. The University of Southern Maryland was represented by Ben Fan, Ph. D (candidate) and adjunct professor. His topic was: Socrates’s Classroom and Deliberative Democracy. Adelphi University in New York was represented by Ohiro Oni-Eseleh, Ph.D who presented on mental health issues as part of the symposium entitled Recognizing and Responding to Potential Mental Health Issues in the Classroom. Other symposium presenters were Drs. John Okon, Beverly Gordon, and Andrea Baldwin. Dr. Olivier Nsengiyumva, Associate Professor in Chemistry presented on Bio-renewable and Bio-degradable Polymers and Their Impact on Plastic Pollution, and Dr. Samuel Perez, Chair of the Science Department presented on: The Effects of Environmental Changes on Cognitive Proficiency in Young Adults.

Arising from our day’s discourse, a robust discussion led to the question of how an interdisciplinary learning experience could be developed across departments for students’ enrichment as they learn in the nation’s capital. This conversation will continue, as the presenters will be further developing their work for publication.

The work has started, join us as we explore new themes and promote the scholarship and brand name of our institution. This is Washington Adventist University!