Faculty Publications, Conferences and Awards

Jenelle Abnett, PhD, assistant professor of education and Megan Scranton, EdD, associate professor of education, presented “Engaging & Effective Strategies for Teaching Literacy to Multilingual Learners (MLs)” at The Teaching Professor Conference, Atlanta, GA, in June 2022.

Kathryn Callahan, MEd, director of academic coaching, along with Lewis Johnson, MS, coordinator of academic services, presented “Once We Resisted, Then We Persisted: The Benefits of Virtual Access to Academic Support” at the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 2 Conference in Norfolk, VA, in March 2022.

Janis Chakars, PhD, associate professor of communications and digital media, organized and promoted the album Band Together: A Benefit for Ukraine. He was interviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer, KYW News Radio, WHYY, Decibel magazine, The Daily Times, Fox 29, Ir (the most prestigious news magazine in Latvia), Latvians Online, and The Hawk (the Saint Joseph’s University student newspaper). The album has been covered by over 50 outlets, mostly in the US, but also Ukraine, Brazil, and Latvia. The story that went out on the CNN news wire mentioned Neumann, reached all the way to California, and set a new publicity record for Neumann. Chakars was also a panel moderator/organizer for “Information Wars in the Baltic States: Russia’s Long Shadow” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference in August 2021, a panel discussant/ organizer for “The Information Battlespace in the Baltic States” and the panel “Understanding disinformation” at the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, May 28, 2022. He created three radio shows with students on WNUW: “African-American Oral History,” “How They See It,” and “Surprise Party.” He also performed concerts in Philadelphia, New York City, Wallingford, Connecticut, and Asbury Park, New Jersey.

David DiMarco, PhD, professor of mathematics, along with Ryan Savitz, PhD, professor of mathematics, published A simple introduction to partial differential equations in the Journal of Multidisciplinary Research. They presented “On the Sexual Assault of Men” virtually at The Global Conference on Women and Gender on March 18, 2022, and co-organized a series of mathematics colloquia. Dr. Savitz, along with Robert McMonagle, PhD, professor of political science, presented virtually “Active Learning in Political Science: Measuring Learning Outcomes” at the 79th Annual Midwest Political Science Conference in April 2022. Dr. DiMarco has also served as the liaison between Neumann University and the EPaDel (Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware) section of the Mathematical Association of America since October 2016.

Christine Gibble, MS, assistant director of undergraduate admission, was awarded a professional internship position with the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling’s (PACAC) Summer Institute.

Chris Haug, EdD, vice president for student affairs, served as chairperson for the Senior Student Affairs Officer Conference of the Association of Catholic College and Universities (ACCU) hosted in Washington, DC in February 2022, was elected to a three-year term in March 2022 as Board Member for the Association for Student Affairs at Catholic Colleges and Universities (ASACCU), and presented a session titled “How to Handle Unexpected Assessment Results” at the Annual Conference for NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education in Baltimore, MD, in March 2022.

Timothy S. Hanna, PhD, associate professor of clinical mental health counseling, presented “Case conference and webinar: Three ways of understanding and integrating religion and spirituality in counseling” virtually at the Pennsylvania Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling in April 2022.

Julie Lanzillo, EdD, program director and associate professor of sport management/ sport business, presented “Athletic Conference Considerations for Adding New Sports Post-COVID” at the College Sport Research Institute (CSRI) Annual Conference in Columbia, SC. She also presented along with Sean McDonald, MS, director of Neumann Media, “When Worlds Collide: The Stories and Lessons from Intern TV” at the 15th Summit on Communication and Sport, International Association for Communication and Sport (IACS) in Philadelphia, PA. Lanzillo also gave the lecture, “Personal Branding” to Social Work 450 at Neumann University on January 27, 2022. She serves on the Executive Council as the Sport Management Liaison for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association and sits on the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Union Foundation.

Rina Keller, LSW, assistant professor of social work, gave the presentation “BSW Practice Events: Incorporating Virtual Learning in Social Work Professional Development” virtually at the Experiential Learning Leadership Institute at The University of Tennessee-Martin on April 12, 2022.

Laura McLaughlin, EdD, professor of education, published the following pieces: Engaging Virtual Environments: Creative Ideas and Online Tools to Promote Student Interaction, Participation, and Active Learning; Faculty must bend to students’ needs in virtual learning environments; Six Tips for a Zoom Fatigue Fix; and Five Strategies to support in person, virtual, and dual engagement learning.

Alfred Mueller, PhD, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, delivered a presentation entitled, “The Ongoing Genocide: Why a 20th Century Event Matters to a 21st Century Audience” in commemoration of International Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, April 26, 2022.

Becky Mueller, PhD, professor of nursing, gave a podium presentation, “Critical Appraisal of Transgender Health in Nursing Education” at the Sigma Theta Tau International, Delta Tau Chapter at-Large Research Conference on April 20, 2022, was awarded a research award grant for the research titled, Evaluation of the impact of a multimodal educational intensive on nurse practitioner students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes towards care of transgender people, and is mentee in the FAANP Mentorship Program, American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Sophia Park, ThD, associate professor of clinical mental health counseling, gave the presentation “Model Minority or China Virus: Effects of Stereotypes on Asian-American Families” virtually at Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (Spiritually Integrated Practitioner Group) in October 2021 and the presentation “Character Development in a Multi-cultural World” at the Handong University in Pohang, Korea, on March 16, 2021. She also presented with Sr. Suzanne Mayer, PhD, professor emeritus of clinical mental health counseling, “Crossing Thresholds: Integration of Liminality into Clinical Experiences of Graduate Counseling Students” and “A Franciscan Call to the Underside of Grace: Use of Theological Reflection in the Face of Life’s Realities” at the Tenth Annual Chi Sigma Iota Pennsylvania Statewide Conference at Villanova University on April 23, 2022.

Marissa Rauscher, PhD, professor of educational psychology, led the roundtable discussion, “Sacred and safe space: Inclusive and invitational ways to promote learning gatherings” at the annual ATE meeting in Chicago, IL.

Francesca Reed, MS, vice president for enrollment management and marketing, gave three presentations at the Leader in Graduate Enrollment Management (NAGAP) annual conference in Chicago in April 2022. She was also selected to be the Education Chair for the NAGAP board.

Maria Traub, DML, associate professor of French and Italian, published three publications: George Sand comique in December 2021, Chambre 2806: l’affaire DSK in December 2021, and Paris Calligrammes in March 2022.