by John Michael O'Leary
Romain College of Business is pleased to recognize six educators as recipients of summer faculty fellowships. Each brings a unique and promising perspective to their field of study—and a personal commitment to shape a better future for students, fellow researchers, people in business and the community at large.
Community-Based Engagement Fellowships
“It’s hard to know precisely, but well over 30,000 people in our community are food-insecure,” says Bryan Bourdeau, instructor in business. “They lack access to nutritious food for an active, healthy life.”
That fact has led Bourdeau and Dr. Sima Fortsch, assistant professor of management, to put this critical quality-of-life issue squarely in their sights. Their fellowship, “Analyzing Supply Chain to Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness for all Stakeholders Involved” targets Evansville’s food insecurity ecosystem for remedy.
“We’re studying three flows in the supply chain,” says Fortsch. “There’s the physical flow of product, the flow of information and the flow of funds.”
Right now, about two dozen organizations comprise the supply chain; the dominant stakeholder in the food-insecurity ecosystem is Tri-State Food Bank. But all the other stakeholders in the ecosystem tend to be siloed, with no formal network in place to guide their cooperation. As a result, the system for obtaining and distributing food throughout Evansville is inefficient and often wasteful.
“We intend to develop multiple models, with different costs and benefits, and let the client choose,” says Fortsch.
“With a good model in place, it will be clear for all stakeholders, especially new suppliers, how they can take part most effectively,” says Bourdeau. “Ultimately, it’s about keeping people from going hungry and ensuring they have access to the nutrition they need.”
Creating Computer Knowledge
“Many students in middle school and high school have an interest in computer science, but they have few opportunities to study it,” says Scott Anderson, instructor in computer science and coordinator of computer science program. He points to research that shows fewer than half of all high schools offer such instruction, while 58% of all new STEM jobs are in computing. Such facts are the impetus behind Anderson’s fellowship, “Develop Middle and High School Summer Computer Science Camps.”
After getting a nod of cooperation from the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in early February, Anderson is now at work on developing the the curriculum and materials. He plans to conduct two, five-day camps; one for middle school students (June 8 to 12) and one for high schoolers (June 15 to 19). He will lead the camps at USI with cooperation and support of the SwiSTEM Resource Center.
The fee for students is $150, but corporate sponsorship may be available for students needing registration assistance. Registration is available online.
“One week of instruction does not substitute for taking an entry-level university CS course,” says Anderson. “But it should give students a jump start on success when they do. This program is also a good way to expose students to the study of computing science at USI.”
Innovation in Student Learning and Teaching Fellowship
“I have noticed that most students in my Introduction to Operations Research do not bring their textbooks to class, despite my best advice,” says Dr. Gary Black, associate professor of decision science. “I conclude this is because they have not purchased the book . . . at a list price of $295, I understand why.”
Black’s response to this problem is the focus of his fellowship. He will develop an e-textbook and make it available to students at no cost starting in the fall. As an unpublished work, it will reside on Blackboard (the University’s online, course-management system) and access will be be limited to students enrolled in the class.
Black anticipates a substantial savings for students in the aggregate—as much as $14,750 a year based on the cost of a new book for an estimated 50 students.
“I am excited about this project’s potential to enhance student-centered learning, particularly their analytical, problem-solving skills,” says Black.
Mentoring Uncertainty Research
Dr. Cristina Gilstrap, assistant professor of business communication, will conduct an empirical study, “Facing Uncertainty While Paying It Forward: Uncertainties Experienced by Healthcare Executives as Formal Organizational Mentors.”
“Individuals experience uncertainty when information or situations are ambiguous, complex, unpredictable, unavailable or inconsistent,” says Gilstrap. “The purpose of this study is to examine the uncertainties healthcare executives experience as formal mentors to junior administrators and identify strategies to help mentors effectively manage their uncertainties.”
Gilstrap also sees this study as having the potential to improve the structure of formal mentoring programs, elevate the satisfaction of mentors and mentees and enhance the outcomes for healthcare organizations. Her study will conclude with a paper on findings, which she will submit for presentation at the International Communication Association’s annual conference. She will also submit her findings for journal publication.
“I know how important mentoring has been to my own success,” says Gilstrap. “Good mentoring really helps, but a lack of mentoring creates challenges for people in organizations.”
Mobile Communications Research
“Teams within organizations rely on mobile applications for chatting,” says Dr. Curt Gilstrap, assistant professor of business communication. “But little is understood about the use of unsanctioned platforms.”
Gilstrap believes investigation can inform team leaders how to leverage chatting platforms in the pursuit of a team’s missions. His research fellowship, “Exploring Unsanctioned Chat Application Behavior Relative to Sanctioned Team Work” is designed to provide groundbreaking data on the phenomenon. He intends to mine insights on the potential risks and rewards for project management and make a needed contribution to the existing body of knowledge on mobile technologies.
“My methodology combines deep background interviews of mobile team members matched with a broader survey of additional mobile team members,” he says.
His research follows his previous related investigation, “Exploring m-leader affordances: team leaders and mobile technologies,” published last year in Team Performance Management, an international journal.
“This phenomenon likely touches every organization,” says Gilstrap. “I believe there is a good chance I can move this investigation into a team publication channel in the near future.”
Optimizing Code
“You may recall the failed launch of healthcare.gov in late 2013,” says Dr. Xue Han, assistant professor of computer science. “An unexpectedly high number of users soon caused the website to go down.”
Han intends to define a model that can help developers avoid that kind of failure and others. Building on his prior research into software testing and performance, he is focusing his fellowship work on “A Configuration-Aware Performance Profiling Tool.”
“Modern computer software systems have a lot of configuration options for users,” says Han. “Apache, for example, has a few hundred such options—too many even for experts to fully understand. What’s needed is a tool that pinpoints where performance can be optimized in configuration and even at a code level.”
He plans to submit his findings to the Journal of Systems and Software, a leading, peer-reviewed publication on software engineering.
“I’ve been working on this issue for the last couple of years,” says Han. “The feedback I am getting from reviewers in different channels is encouraging.”