GGC receives $2.8 million in public grants

Publicly funded initiatives save students money, enrich learning experiences, broaden opportunities and expand the realm of human knowledge.

GGC faculty and staff have established a successful record in obtaining public grants to fund research, special programs and other initiatives. To date, the college has $2.8 million in active, public grants, ranging from a few thousand dollars to a $1.6 million grant (see story, page 14).

Often awarded through a competitive process, public grants are provided by state and federal agencies, and are managed through the GGC Office of Research, Sponsored Programs, Accreditation and Certification Activities. Private funding is managed through the GGC Office of Advancement.

Following are several example descriptions of Georgia Gwinnett College’s active, public grants.

Affordable Learning Georgia

University System of Georgia (USG) Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) Text Book Transformation Grants support development of free, online textbooks and supplemental materials. The USG is the nation’s top university system in the use of free textbooks through Rice University’s OpenStax publishing house.

“Textbooks cost several hundred dollars per semester,” said Dr. T.J. Arant, senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs and provost. “When students skip buying textbooks their grades suffer. Others leave school temporarily or even permanently when they cannot afford textbooks. Reducing these costs can determine if a

Grants from the USG Affordable Learning Georgia program are enabling faculty at GGC to develop free, online textbooks for classes like digital media, shown here. student earns a degree or not.”

GGC’s six ALG grants, totaling $96,400, support faculty teams’ work on digital textbooks for human geography, music appreciation, American government, digital media and Spanish courses, as well as the pilot of online math materials developed at another USG institution. Replacing materials priced from $43 to $215 each for 2,650 GGC students taking those courses results in annual savings of more than $351,000.

“Online materials make a real difference,” said Arant. “In sections piloting the free digital media textbook, the DFW (D, F, Withdraw) rate dropped from 20 percent to 6.8 percent, clearly indicating the significance of ensuring that all students have access to textbooks. We look forward to similar success in the other five courses.”

Student learning and support

DFW rates are the focus of an innovative, pilot program that equips experienced students to provide peer supplemental instruction (PSI) in study groups and lab exercises. The project targets introductory biology and chemistry classes, where PSI may reduce these courses’ high DFW rates of 30-40 percent. Dr. Cindy Achat-Mendes, assistant professor of biology, received a $25,000 USG Complete College Georgia Peer Instruction grant for this project. She continues the PSI project as part of the recently awarded NSF-IUSE Courseembedded Undergraduate Research Experiences and USG STEM Education Improvement Plan grants.

A $23,000 grant from the USG Board of Regents African-American Male Initiative funds GGC’s Elite Scholars Program. Led by Dr. C. Douglas Johnson, professor of leadership and management, and Dr. Paul Grant, assistant professor of political science, the program improves retention and graduation rates of African-American males by engaging them in high-impact academic and co-curricular experiences.

Many Latino students attending GGC are the first in their families to go to college, so their parents lack a frame of reference for what college involves. Dr. Luis Mora,

associate professor of Spanish, received a $22,000 grant from the USG Hispanic Latino Initiative to develop an educational program to help Latino parents provide academic, emotional and financial support to help students graduate in four years.

Drs. Tacksoo Im and Sebastien Siva, both assistant professors of information technology, received a $65,705 National Science Foundation subaward to collaborate with Georgia Tech on exploring how a STEAM (STEM + arts) approach can make computer science courses more engaging for non-majors. If so, the approach could help those students learn essential computer skills.

Research

GGC has acquired an atomic force microscope, thanks to a $148,443 National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant. Capable of capturing nanoscale images, the microscope will significantly broaden research capabilities of students and faculty across several disciplines. Here, Joseph Mondoux, biology, listens as Dr. Neelam Khan, associate professor of physics, explains how to use the microscope. Meanwhile, Dr. Seungjin Lee, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, talks with Farzana Zerin, biology, about the interpretation of images captured by the microscope.

Dr. Mark Schlueter, professor of biology, and his GGC students have been studying bees in north Georgia apple orchards since 2011 in hopes of developing pollination alternatives in light of declines in honey bee populations. He recently received a $15,000 Southern Regional Sustainable Agricultural and Educational grant to study how planting wildflower beds in apple orchards may encourage the

Active Public Grants, Topics Lead Faculty/Staff PhD Grant Award ALG: Digital media Shuhua Lai $ 10,800.00 ALG: Human geography David Dorrell $ 25,800.00 ALG: Math Alvina Atkinson $ 2,400.00 ALG: Music Todd Mueller $ 20,800.00 ALG: Political science Dovile Budryte $ 20,800.00 ALG: Spanish Federica Goldoni $ 15,800.00 Cyber Innovation training Kris Nagel $ 65,000.00 DHHS: Suicide prevention* Andrew Stochel $ 121,228.00 NIH: Research training** Latanya Hammonds-Odie $ 18,516.00 NSF: A.F. Microscope Neelam Kahn $ 148,443.00 NSF: IUSE Undergrad research Judy Awong-Taylor $ 1,629,820.00 NSF: IUSE GA Tech Tacksoo Im $ 65,705.00 NSF: Information system security Melchor De Guzman $ 20,730.00 SARE: Bee pollination Mark Schlueter $ 15,000.00 Texas PW: Alligator gar Peter Sakaris $ 20,000.00 USFWS: Bullhead catfish Peter Sakaris $ 8,900.00 USFWS: Bees Melissa Caspary $ 20,000.00 USFWS: Monarch butterfly Melissa Caspary $ 5,000.00 USG AAMI: Elite Scholars C. Douglas Johnson $ 23,000.00 USG CCG: Peer instruction Cindy Achat-Mendes $ 25,000.00 USG HLI: Hispanic parent prog. Luis Mora $ 22,000.00 USG STEM Initiative: Education Thomas Mundie $ 510,000.00 Improvement Plan TOTAL TOTAL $2,803,942.00 $2,814,742.00

presence and activity of wild bee species that can help pollinate the trees.

Dr. Peter Sakaris, associate professor of biology, has a $20,000 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant to measure age in young alligator gar in Texas rivers by sectioning and analyzing otoliths (ear bones) from larval and juvenile fish. In addition, he received $8,900 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to estimate the ages of brown bullhead catfish from the tidal Potomac and Anacostia rivers. Sakaris will relate fish age to liver and skin tumor development in this species.

Dr. Melchor De Guzman, professor of criminal justice/criminology, received $20,730 in NSF funding to analyze insider threats to information technology systems in financial institutions.

Dr. Melissa Caspary, assistant professor of biology, received two USFWS grants totaling $25,000 for two research projects involving Georgia’s Coosa Valley prairie. Both projects examine pollination and the importance of plant-insect community partners in an ecological system. One project focuses on bees while the other concentrates on the now-endangered Monarch butterfly.

“Research provides valuable learning opportunities for GGC students to participate in undergraduate research, which significantly contributes to future graduate study and professional experiences,” said Arant.