Faculty Fellowships

Urban Conflict Studies:

Professor of Speech Communication Karen Krupar and Adjunct Faculty Kelly Marquez

Under this recently awarded fellowship, Krupar and Marquez will develop a course in mediation as part of an overall strategy to establish a Center for Urban Conflict Studies at Metro State. “As an urban institution, it makes sense for us to study urban conflict in particular, as opposed to general conflict,” Krupar said. The mediation class will be the third in a series on conflict resolution, adding to two courses that Krupar developed years ago (one in Communications and Conflict and the other in Interpersonal Negotiations). Krupar and Marquez plan to develop a fourth in the series this summer, on arbitration. Taken together, the four classes would provide the basis for a certificate program, which Krupar hopes will lead to the development of a minor in conflict resolution and eventually to the establishment of a Center for Urban Conflict Studies. Krupar adds that no other college in Colorado has a center focused specifically on urban conflict, or geared specifically to undergraduates. “This idea also aligns with President Jordan’s notion of Metro State as an urban land-grant institution,” Krupar said.

Social Entrepreneurship:

Women’s Institute Director Ann Janette Alejano-Steele and Assistant Professor Gerakina Sgoutas

The Women’s Institute and the Nonprofit Organization Administration program will develop the Social Entrepreneurship Leadership Project. The project encompasses three parts: a 15-week multidisciplinary course reviewing basic principles of social entrepreneurship and its local and global applications; a co-requisite service-learning course designed to provide students applied experience in the greater Denver area; and a social entrepreneurship speaker series that draws expertise from the Denver community, and which is open both to the Metro State community and to the general public. Alejano-Steele and Sgoutas each received a $2,000 fellowship, as their individual elements to the project are separate and distinct, Moroye said.

Community Music School:

Assistant Professor David Kish

Kish received a fellowship to establish the Metro State Community Music School, which will provide students at secondary schools within the Denver Public School district with private weekly instruction from Metro State students pursuing music education degrees. The program was designed to bridge the gap created after a Denver voter initiative supported music education for elementary schools but did not ensure that all secondary schools provide continued music instruction.

Multicultural Marketing:

Chair and Associate Professor Clay Daughtrey and Professor Wossen Kassaye

Daughtrey and Kassaye will use the fellowship to build on and expand the success of a new course titled Multicultural Marketing, which examines similarities and differences in consumers in different subcultures based on race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation and other characteristics (for example, the growing Latino population in Colorado). The course focuses on growing entrepreneurs who market products based on cultural-identity analysis. Students work in teams of three or four with a local business or nonprofit organization to complete a consulting project.

Chemistry E-Book:

Assistant Professor Roosevelt Price

Price will develop an “e-book” customized specifically for teaching chemistry at Metro State and will present the lessons from his experience to other professors at the College. Traditional chemistry textbooks experience rapid turnaround of new editions, destroying the resale value for students and forcing faulty to alter problem sets and page numbers each year. The e-book development draws on the experience and knowledge of current and former faculty as well as student perspectives, allowing for multiple authors, unlimited pages and the inclusion of supplemental information.

Partnership with Jefferson County Schools:

Assistant Professor Marilyn Cullen-Reavill

Through the Faculty Fellowship, Cullen-Revill of the Elementary Education department will develop a model of co-teaching that extends the concept of Metro State’s learning communities into the Jefferson County (Jeffco) School District. The partnership will be a collaboration involving administrators, principals and teachers from Jeffco and Metro State students who would do their field placements in participating Jeffco schools. Co-teaching workshops will be developed over the spring and summer for students in Cullen-Reavill’s Classroom Management course and cooperating Jeffco teachers.

Survey Research

Professor Donald Chang and Assistant Professor Juan Dempere

Marketing Professor Chang and Assistant Finance Professor Dempere were the first two recipients of fellowships granted by Metro State’s Center for Innovation. Chang and Dempere worked together to develop and administer a survey that will help center administrators identify the innovative ideas that faculty are using, or would like to use, in their work.