2024-2025 Fellows

These Innovation Fellows were selected in April 2024, will participate in the Innovation Institute in May 2024, and will complete their fellowship projects in the 2024 – 2025 Academic Year.  Scroll down below the fellows list or click on each name to see the abstracts for their projects.  Particular areas of focus for this cohort of Innovation Fellows are within the following areas connected to academic excellence and distinction:

Innovation Fellows and Courses

  • Timothy Braun, Literature, Writing, Rhetoric, and Honors, Arts and Humanities, HONS-2318: “The Kobayashi Maru, or The Art of Failing”
  • Jessenia Garcia, Counseling, Behavioral and Social Sciences, CNSL 6366: Linguistic and Cultural Considerations in the Treatment of Spanish Speakers
  • Jamie Hinojosa, Writing and Rhetoric, Arts and Humanities, WRIT 2311: Writing in the Digital Age
  • Angela Ju, Political Science, Global Studies, Environmental Science and Policy, Behavioral and Social Sciences, ENSP 4349/GLST 4341: Issues and Challenges of Global Development
  • Daniel Lievens, Visual Studies, Arts and Humanities, GDES 1311: Lab 1
  • Katherine Lopez, Accounting, Economics, and Finance, Munday School of Business, ACCT 6312: Accounting Ethics
  • John Loucks, Marketing, Operations and Analytics, Munday School of Business, BUSI 1315: Excel Skills for Business
  • Nancy Salisbury, Communication, Arts and Humanities, COMM 4356: Taylor Swift: Innovation, Technology, and Turbulent Times
  • Bilal Shebaro, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, COSC 3326: Mobile Programming
  • Matt Steffenson, Biological Sciences, Natural Sciences, BINF 3322: Biostatistics

Fellows and Project Abstracts

Timothy Braun, Literature, Writing, Rhetoric, and Honors, Arts and Humanities, HONS-2318: “The Kobayashi Maru, or The Art of Failing”

“The Kobayashi Maru, or The Art of Failing” What is Failure? How many degrees of failure are there? What can we learn from failure? Why is failure important? In this class there is not a right or wrong, there is only wrong and less wrong, and we are going to work together in exploring less wrong in making art, critiquing, learning what we can from falling down, getting up, and what it means to solve our failures.

Jessenia Garcia, Counseling, Behavioral and Social Sciences, CNSL 6366: Linguistic and Cultural Considerations in the Treatment of Spanish Speakers

This project will focus on designing the course, Linguistic and Cultural Considerations in the Treatment of Spanish Speakers. The objective is to enhance the multicultural competence of bilingual counselors providing mental health services to Spanish-speaking clients. The course will emphasize the use of asset-based, culturally sustaining pedagogy to model for students the utilization of these approaches with clients. Literature on the experiences of bilingual counselors highlights a lack of training, resources, and supervision, leaving these counselors overworked and unsupported. I am motivated to fill a gap with students and provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge to benefit their professional identity development and self-efficacy while engaging with the community. This course aims to explore linguistic and cultural aspects. It will cover the historical and systemic implications of mental health, the role of advocacy and social justice, the practice of clinical skills, and direct community work.

Jamie Hinojosa, Writing and Rhetoric, Arts and Humanities, WRIT 2311: Writing in the Digital Age

Every fall, I teach WRIT 2311: Writing in the Digital Age. This course is taken by a diverse group of students: first-years to seniors and from a wide range of majors. I want to redesign this course with a focus on generative artificial intelligence. My plan is to provide opportunities for students to research, analyze, use, and collaborate across various GAIs and genres of writing, reading, and applications. My goal is for students to learn the benefits and constraints of GAIs and how they can embrace these tools and find applications to benefit their professional and personal lives.

Angela Ju, Political Science, Global Studies, Environmental Science and Policy, Behavioral and Social Sciences, ENSP 4349/GLST 4341: Issues and Challenges of Global Development

The goals of my course-design process for the next iteration of Issues and Challenges of Global Development include incorporating asset-based teaching approaches in Fall 2024. I plan to have students simulate working in teams that allow them to contribute their own social identities and diverse experiences to address challenges in inclusive development. Teams of students will create short policy memos tackling an issue of inclusive development relevant to each course unit. Inclusive development refers to an equitable development approach built on the understanding that every individual and community, of all diverse identities and experiences, is instrumental in the transformation of their own societies. The significance of this project is that it will allow students to realize their own diverse cultures, languages, disabilities, socioeconomic statuses, immigration statuses, and sexualities as characteristics that add value to academic and real-world applications. My course design can be applied more broadly to other group-based assignments.

Daniel Lievens, Visual Studies, Arts and Humanities, GDES 1311: Lab 1

In GDES 1311, Lab 1, I’ve taught a project, first developed by Jimmy Luu, where students use AI (Midjourney) to generate images of another planet as a tourist destination. Generative AI has the potential to transform the work of designers—it’s an amazing tool for quickly visualizing an idea, but it could also be a tool for offloading the work – and jobs – of designers to AI. Recent research also suggests it consumes vast amounts of energy, both in training models and in using them. As I refine this portion of this course, my goal is to research those issues and build in reflection about what those potential changes mean for designers, artists, and makers, as well as what the technology means for the environment and climate change. How do I teach both the excitement of this new technology with a critical reflection of its effects on our work and our world?

Katherine Lopez, Accounting, Economics, and Finance, Munday School of Business, ACCT 6312: Accounting Ethics

The goal of this course development project is to redesign Accounting Ethics (ACCT 6312) to incorporate generative AI literacy.  The redesign includes examining the present ethical issues associated with generative AI and discussing the current uses of AI in the accounting profession.  Students will practice using AI to generate paper ideas and draft answers to simple assignments that will be analyzed in class to help students identify any biases inherent in the AI and learn how to ethically use generative AI in writing.  Additionally, students will complete a larger paper assignment requiring them to revise a draft created by generative AI to produce a final product.  The addition of AI literacy will help students learn how to effectively and ethically utilize this tool that is starting to become more prevalent in the business world.  The course material created can be adapted into other courses that have writing components.

John Loucks, Marketing, Operations and Analytics, Munday School of Business, BUSI 1315: Excel Skills for Business

Students in all business concentrations need strong spreadsheet skills to complete upper-division classwork and to successfully compete in the job market. The vast majority of business majors need far more training and practice with spreadsheets than what they have gained in high school or by other means. Currently, there is no in-depth spreadsheet course offered at St. Edward’s. The MSB is developing BUSI 1315 (Excel Skills for Business) as a new core requirement for all business majors. The planned course progresses from basic concepts like creating worksheets and navigating the user interface to advanced skills including creating data dashboards, crafting custom functions, and automating with macros. Upon completion of the course, it is expected that students will be adequately prepared to pass the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification exam. Student engagement will be heightened by course resources that include a wide range of multimedia content including videos, slides, simulations & interactive tools to assess skills.

Nancy Salisbury, Communication, Arts and Humanities, COMM 4356: Taylor Swift: Innovation, Technology, and Turbulent Times

Innovation management is the core of the “Taylor Swift: Innovation, Technology, and Turbulent Times” course. The significance of this course development project lies in its capacity to provide our students with a unique, relevant, and relatable lens through which to examine broader themes of communication, creativity, and adaptation in the face of uncertainty. By studying Taylor Swift’s career trajectory, outreach, crisis management, and business decisions, students will gain valuable insights into the evolving dynamics of stakeholder engagement and disruptions in the broader creative economy, as well as the opportunities and challenges presented by emerging technology and cultural change. Utilizing a combination of historical analysis, cultural studies, and critical theory, students will identify best practices of intentional communication, explore a multi-faceted approach to innovation, examine the strategic use of emerging technology, and learn to build bridges and develop a mutual understanding across stakeholder groups to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Bilal Shebaro, Computer Science, Natural Sciences, COSC 3326: Mobile Programming

The primary goal of my course re-design for the COSC 3326 Mobile Programming course is to foster a student-centered, inclusive learning environment through asset-based teaching and the integration of generative AI tools. By encouraging students to develop mobile applications based on their interests, backgrounds, and societal concerns, the course aims to enhance engagement, creativity, and innovation, in addition to fostering a sense of ownership and personal connection to the learning process. These changes align with the university’s mission and strategic goals by promoting inclusive education that respects and utilizes the diversity of the student body.

Matt Steffenson, Biological Sciences, Natural Sciences, BINF 3322: Biostatistics

Biostatistics is an upper-level majors course designed to teach students how to use the programming language R to run multiple types of statistical tests.  In the past, this course has focused on units that teach students how to use R, as well as how to statistically analyze data.  However, there is a push in academia to focus less on content, and more on skill-building.  I plan on creating a process-driven scaffolding in Biostatistics to better inform the units that are covered.  By restructuring the course in this way, students will gain practical skills that can be utilized in their careers after graduating from St. Edward’s, as well as a better understanding of the process through which we approach organizing, visualizing, and analyzing scientific data.