Dear Faculty Colleagues,

Wishing you a happy spooky season filled with crisp air, cozy moments, and maybe a pumpkin treat or two! Hope your classes are going well and that you’re finding time to enjoy the fall magic around campus.

First-Year Faculty Cohort
We’ve had just one session since our last newsletter, as Fall Break provided everyone a well-earned pause.

On October 20, our cohort welcomed Jordan Longan, APSU’s Director of Dual Enrollment, who shared insights into this important segment of our student population— the Dual Enrollment program, its dedicated staff, and the unique energy these students bring to our classes. Following that, LaNeeça Williams, APSU’s Chief of Institutional Culture and Title IX Coordinator, led a meaningful conversation about who we are as Peayple and how every faculty member contributes to that shared identity. She also highlighted special opportunities available to faculty, including the President’s Leadership Development Program and Innovation and Success Funding.

A big thank-you to both presenters for their time, energy, and thoughtful engagement with our new faculty.  If you ever find yourself wondering what our FYF colleagues are up to, check out the FYF program agenda for Fall 2025 here.

Upcoming Events
Here’s a quick look at upcoming opportunities for and by faculty:

• Temple Grandin Visit Schedule
• October Lunch & Learn
• DE Course Mapping Series
• Accessibility Basics for Course Design Training Series
• Full Spectrum Learning Info Sessions
• AI @ APSU Symposium
• TechBytes sessions
• YuJa transition sessions
• IER Office Hours
• Career Success Center sessions for Faculty
• Interprofessional Education Made Practical: Tools for Faculty session
• Peay Composed Symposium on Academic Writing

CAFE Calendar 
I'll continue to update our CAFE Calendar as more events and sessions become finalized.  Be sure to bookmark it and add any events directly to your Outlook calendar. 

Our CAFE Advisory Board will meet soon to finalize our January offerings for you and other upcoming programming I'm excited about.  As always, we welcome your ideas on how CAFE can better serve you.  Please don't hesitate to reach out at williamsjj@apsu.edu or 931-221-7648.

Wishing you all a smooth and spirited close to October! I hope you’re finding moments to enjoy the cooler weather and all that this colorful season brings.

Yours always,
Jeff 

A place develoted to celebrating the achievements of our APSU faculty colleagues!

Smithers book available on audio

Dr. Tammy Smithers book, The Cults of Raphael and Michelangelo, is now available as an audiobook and she appears as the narrator!

Here is a description of the book: 

Artistic Sainthood and Memorials as a Second Life:
This study explores the phenomenon of the cults of Raphael and Michelangelo in relation to their death, burial, and posthumous fame—or second life—from their own times through the nineteenth century.

These two artists inspired fervent followings like no other artists before them. The affective response of those touched by the potency of the physical presence of their art—works, personal effects, and remains—or even touched by the power of their creative legacy—opened up new avenues for artistic fame, divination, and commemoration. Within this cultural framework, this study charts the elevation of the status of dozens of other artists in Italy through funerals and tomb memorialization, many of which were held and made in response to those of Raphael and Michelangelo.

By bringing together disparate sources and engaging material as well as a variety of types of artworks and objects, this book will be of great interest to anyone who studies early modern Italy, art history, cultural history, and Italian studies.

Wills Spotlights Role of Rural School Counselors as Mental Health First Responders

Recently published in the Journal of Professional School Counseling, Dr. LeAnn Wills’ article “Beyond City Limits: A Scoping Review of School Counseling Service Delivery in Rural Schools”  discusses recent research into how rural school counselors often act as primary — and sometimes only — providers of mental health support in underserved communities. She emphasizes the challenges these counselors face, such as limited resources, professional isolation, and the necessity of being culturally responsive to rural contexts. Wills argues that acknowledging and supporting this role is crucial to improving mental health outcomes in rural areas.

Dr. LeAnn Wills’ ongoing research with rural school counselors emphasizes the unique and unmet needs of their communities. | Photo by Seth Riker

Noghanibehambari published in Environmental and Resource Economics

Dr. Hamid Noghanibehambari published the article "Chilling Sunsets: Climate Distances and Later-Life Mortality of Immigrants" earlier this year in Environmental and Resource Economics.

Here is more information about his publication:

Previous research suggests that immigrants sort into environments that resemble their country of origin. However, fewer studies have examined whether this similarity/dissimilarity affects health outcomes. In this paper, we address this question using Social Security Administration death records linked to the full count 1940 census. We explore the effect of temperature distance, i.e. the difference between the average temperature of an immigrant’s birth country and US county of residence, during midlife on later-life longevity. We find that a 5.5 °C change in temperature distance, equivalent to the mean of the sample, is associated with 3.3 months lower longevity. We find that these effects are largely driven by low-educated individuals and those in weather-related occupations for whom climate-specific skills play an important role. Further, we find comparable effects when we turn our focus on cross-county internal migrants of US-born individuals. We discuss the policy implication of these results in light of expected climate-driven migration in the population of immigrants in the US population in the coming decades.

Barnes published in Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

Dr. Zachary Barnes recently published an article entitled "Parent education, not income-to-needs ratio, relates to preschool home executive function environment" published in the October edition of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 

Here is the abstract:

This brief report aimed to explore the relation between the components of socioeconomic status (income and parental education) and the Home Executive Function Environment (HEFE) in families with preschoolers. Using secondary data from the Preschool Social and Emotional Development Study, we found that while the income-to-needs ratio was not related to HEFE, parental education was. Specifically, those with college credits or a college degree scored higher on the HEFE compared to those with a high school diploma or less. Additionally, we found that scores on HEFE were lower when filled out by the father compared to mothers. The results add to previous work that parental education may drive socioeconomic differences in parenting practices.

Prairie Preacher Documentary Wins Regional Emmy

The Prairie Preacher, a PBS Appalachia Virginia documentary produced in partnership with the Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI) at Austin Peay, recently won an Emmy Award at the 2025 Emmys National Capital Region ceremony.

The 27-minute film features Dr. Dwayne Estes, a botanist who earned his nickname for his passionate advocacy of grassland conservation. Once a child who found solace in nature, Estes now dedicates his life to saving America’s most endangered ecosystem — southeastern grasslands. Dr. Estes and the entire SGI team work tirelessly to protect and restore these vital landscapes.

"Animal Wellness: Caring Smarter, Caring Better"
A focus on Temple Grandin

Discover the life and work of Temple Grandin, one of the world’s most influential voices in animal behavior, livestock handling, and autism advocacy. This talk highlights her groundbreaking contributions to animal welfare and connects them to the broader mission of promoting smarter, more compassionate care for animals during Animal Wellness Month.

Lunch will be provided, so please RSVP by Oct. 15, 2025,
so we can plan accordingly!

Have you seen the AI Symposium schedule and
list of presenters for October 31?  

The first 30 attendees to RSVP will receive a chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A!
RSVP by October 31st

Both sessions will take place in Library 232 from 9:00am-2:00pm.

IER staff will be there to help folks with everything IER related – surveys, outcomes assessment, data requests and analysis, Peay Composed efforts, major field testing, and more! Folks can drop by as their schedule allows.

Dr. Mir Hasan was recently named one of the recipients for The Socrates Award for Excellence in Teaching! Here is a little more about him and his accomplishments.

Dr. Mir Hasan earned his Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science from Florida State University (FSU) and his B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. 
 
Dr. Hasan is passionate about teaching and enjoys offering courses in programming, databases, software engineering, and cybersecurity. In addition to this award, while at FSU he served as an instructor of record for several courses and was recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for his excellence in teaching. 

His research interests include information retrieval, search engines and recommender systems, software engineering, cybersecurity, and computer science education. His work has been published in leading venues such as the ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium, IEEE Big Data, HICSS, ACM SIGIR, IEEE Access, and ICSE. He also co-authored a textbook on defensive programming. Dr. Hasan has mentored and supervised numerous master’s students on research projects, several of which have resulted in peer-reviewed publications. 
 
“My favorite thing about teaching at APSU is the opportunity to mentor and inspire students. I find it deeply rewarding to guide students as they discover their strengths, develop their skills, and prepare for future success. Watching them grow as learners and professionals—and knowing I had a part in their journey—is one of the most fulfilling aspects of being a faculty member here.” 

Join us in congratulating Dr. Mir Hasan for being one of the recipients of The Socrates Award for Excellence in Teaching!

Dr. Niranga Wickramarathne is a new addition to our CAFE Advisory Board! She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agriculture and has served at APSU for one year.

When asked about serving on the board, she said, “I was drawn to serve on the CAFE Advisory Board because I am inspired by its mission to support APSU faculty in teaching research leadership and community-building. Being part of the board gives me the opportunity to contribute to professional development and programs that foster faculty growth and excellence across campus.”

Her favorite thing about APSU is the welcoming community and strong sense of support for both faculty and students. Her favorite hobby is gardening and her favorite movie is "The Pursuit of Happiness."

Let us welcome Dr. Wickramarathne to the CAFE Advisory Board!

Have you bookmarked the CAFE Calendar yet?  We’re constantly adding new events!  Stay up to date with all CAFE-affiliated programming happening across campus.  Don’t forget - you can easily add any event directly to your Outlook calendar with a click! 

Do you have an event that you would like promoted in CAFE's bi-monthly newsletter?

Feel free to email us at cafe-fac@apsu.edu with the information. We will review it and inform you if the request is appropriate for the CAFE audience.