The College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) and the College of Public Policy co-hosted a book talk on “Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Advancing Research and Transformative Practice,” on Friday, Aug. 28 at the UTSA Downtown Campus.
The event featured a presentation by the book’s co-editors Dr. Anne-Marie Núñez, ELPS associate professor, Dr. Sylvia Hurtado, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Dr. Emily Calderón Galdeano, director of research for Excelencia in Education.
“Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Advancing Research and Transformative Practice,” which was published by Routledge earlier this year, critically explores the environment and organizational behaviors of Hispanic- Serving Institutions (HSIs). The book includes chapters written by leading HSI scholars, including ELPS associate professor Dr. Gloria Crisp.
The event was sponsored by the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, the College of Public Policy, and the Office of the President.
Dr. Rosalind Horowitz, professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching, traveled to Israel this May and June to meet with doctoral students whose work she has contributed to as an External Doctoral Dissertation Faculty Member.
Horowitz has also contributed to the formulation of research papers by these doctoral students, which have been presented at international conferences and published in international journals.
As part of the Building a Healthy Temple program, Dr. Meizi He and her team team recently developed and pilot-tested an innovative childhood obesity intervention program. The program works in parallel with local churches’ annual vacation bible schools (VBS). Funded by BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, the BHT team worked with San Antonio- based churches St. Paul Catholic Church, Central Church of God and Grace Calvary Church to implement a special VBS curriculum emphasizing healthy living. The program was designed for school-aged children and provided free of charge to the church and their local community members.
The five-day VBS, named “Under Construction: To Build A Healthy Temple,” was designed to coincide with the Bible-related teachings the children learn during the VBS. The children learned to “care for their temple” by making their own healthy snacks and participating in physical activities and healthy eating competitions. Parents also had an opportunity to take part in the VBS proceedings by attending daily health education sessions and cooking demonstrations.
The Building a Healthy Temple program also established a partnership with the state of Texas and took part in the statewide initiative, Growing Healthy Texas. The initiative hosted free miniconferences throughout the state, making stops in San Angelo, Fort Worth, San Marcos, and Corpus Christi, Texas. As part of the initiative, He and her team presented the work that they are doing through the Building a Healthy Temple program in the San Antonio community at each of these stops.
The College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching hosted the inaugural Interdisciplinary Inquiry Expo on Saturday, Aug. 8 on the UTSA Main Campus.
The expo was organized as a living gallery. More than 80 students who were enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Inquiry course this summer had their research displayed for people to walk by and see. The top two research projects were nominated to compete in the annual Interdisciplinary Studies Colloquium in the spring of 2016
In one of the first studies of its kind, UTSA researchers William H. Cooke and Donovan Fogt, and Caroline Rickards at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, gathered data on the cardiovascular effects of vaporized nicotine in healthy young adults. Cooke, Fogt and Rickards studied 20 healthy non-smokers. Each was randomly given a nicotine cartridge or a placebo cartridge, and various cardiovascular measurements were taken.
Cooke, Fogt and Rickards observed that the non-smokers they studied experienced acute blood pressure spikes immediately after they vaped for 10 minutes. Moreover, those spikes lasted for at least 15 minutes after nicotine inhalation ended. Cooke says that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. He also says that the flavorings commonly sold alongside vaping cartridges such as fruit or bubblegum may attract young non-smokers who may have never considered smoking, and experimenting with “vaping” could lead to nicotine addiction.
The researchers also worry that in addition to causing blood pressure spikes, prolonged vaping could lead to long-term cardiovascular problems, especially in people with undiagnosed hypertension.
The UTSA pilot study was funded by $30,000 from the Office of the Vice President for Research. Over the next few years, the researchers will expand the study to drill deeper into the longterm health effects of continuous vaping on a variety of populations. The study has been accepted for publication in the journal, Clinical Autonomic Research.
The College of Education and Human Development hosted the Fifth Annual Student Research Colloquium on Friday, November 20, 2015 on the UTSA Main Campus. Students from all three educational levels presented their research to their fellow classmates and a panel of faculty judges. Prizes were awarded in each of the three categories Undergraduate, Masters, and Doctoral. First place winners in each category received $500, second place winners received $400, and third place winners received $300 (pictured above with Drs. Juliet Ray and Amaury Nora).
Dr. William Cooke (bottom row, second in from right), professor and chair of the Department of Kinesiology, Health, and Nutrition, was one of 11 researchers inducted into the UTSA Academy of Distinguished Researchers. The charter members were selected by the UTSA Research Advisory Board for the demonstrated academic impact of their research and scholarly activity.