Faculty Members Granted Sabbaticals

Twelve NMU faculty members have been granted sabbatical leave for part or all of the 2007-08 academic year to focus on scholarly research and/or writing.

Louise Bourgault (CAPS) is assessing the effectiveness of three Indian films that address the HIV/AIDS issue for her winter 2008 sabbatical. Her case study will discuss the potential of using film to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic in India and worldwide. Bourgault began fieldwork in Mumbia and Cochin, India this summer.

Terry Delpier (nursing) will take her sabbatical leave the fall and winter semesters. She is planning a qualitative study to investigate the risk factors in adolescent football players.

Lisa Flood (nursing) will complete her doctorate of nursing practice degree during the fall and winter semesters. Her research will focus on nurse-patient interaction related to diabetes care.

Brent Graves (biology) wants to understand why males have shorter average life spans than females in most species. During his fall 2007 sabbatical, he will study guppies to explore the causes of this phenomenon.

Marek Haltof (English) is working on his book titled "The Holocaust in Polish Film: Uncovering the Past.” He was awarded the 2006-07 Peter White Scholar Award to work on this project, which will focus on films as well as Poland’s national identity. Haltof will be on sabbatical leave during the fall 2007 semester.

Austin Hummell (English) will be on sabbatical leave for the winter 2008 semester to write a book of poetry. He plans to revise his 40-page draft for potential publication.

Jill Leonard (biology) will work on coaster brook trout research for her winter 2008 sabbatical leave. She plans to produce several manuscripts for publication using data compiled over the past several years.

Sandra Poindexter (business) plans to conduct an in-depth investigation of alternative pedagogies for teaching information technology disciplines, evaluate their effectiveness and to develop a model pilot within the CIS program at NMU. During the fall and winter semesters, Poindexter will combine reviews of curricula outside the United States in Ireland, Finland and Spain.

Kristi Robinia (nursing) will finish her dissertation research during the winter 2008 semester so she may complete her philosophy doctorate from Western Michigan University. Her research attempts to understand variables that correlate with high or low self-efficacy perceptions of online teaching.

Jaspal Singh (English) will spend her fall 2008 sabbatical presenting papers and completing books. She will present her papers in India and Africa. One of her books, a monograph, deals with post-colonial poetry and the other is an anthology of Diasporic Indian writers that she is co-editing.

Alan Willis (history) plans to investigate the youth programs and literature of southern religious institutions. During his winter 2008 sabbatical, Willis will conduct most of his research in Nashville, Tenn. His research is a follow-up project based on youth publications regarding race, which Willis covered in his book, “All According to God’s Plan.”

Roxin Zhang (math) will take sabbatical leave during the winter 2008 semester. He plans to conduct research and scholarly activities on optimization and variational analysis.