UIndy Faculty, Staff Provide Expert Insight to Local & National Media in May
As part of their commitment to “education for service,” faculty and staff at the University of Indianapolis share their expertise with local and national news outlets in order to keep our community informed and to introduce new perspectives on current issues.
UIndy faculty and staff were featured in the following news stories in May:
Dr. Isabell Mills, program director of sport management, explained how Caitlin Clark helped transform the WNBA and sports in Indianapolis by bringing in a tidal wave of money to CNHI newspapers, a story published in places like the Jeffersonville News and Tribune and the Terre Haute Tribune Star.
A number of faculty and staff provided their expertise to our partners at the Colleges of Distinction. Kirk Bryans, director of the Professional Edge Center in business, sports management and engineering fields, explained why some students choose to pursue an MBA directly after getting their bachelor’s degree. Stephanie Kendall-Deitz, director of the Professional Edge Center in healthcare careers, shared her expertise in the Ultimate Guide to Grad School Applications. Brittany Dyer, associate director at the Professional Edge Center, discussed how to start your college search. Dr. Amber Smith, vice president of student experience, success, and belonging, provided advice to non-traditional students looking to navigate student services. Dr. Diane Smith, graduate program director of the School of Nursing, guided students who are looking for help before interviewing for nursing school.
Dr. Dean Wiseman, associate professor of biology, Head Wrestling Coach Jason Warthan, and Jackson Hoover, a student in the Ron and Laura Strain Honors College, were part of an Inspiring Indiana story on WTHR-TV thanks to Jackson’s grades, wrestling exploits and travel to Vietnam to potentially discover and document a new species of blind cave fish. Dr. Wiseman and Hoover were also profiled on WRTV for a story on their trip.
Dr. Trent Cayot, assistant professor of kinesiology, Dr. Nathanial Eckert, assistant professor of kinesiology, and Dr. Mindy Hartman Mayol, associate professor of kinesiology, were mentioned in the Daily Journal for their work to create new physical fitness standards at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. In addition, Dr. Eckert was interviewed by WRTV.
Dr. Larry Belcher, professor of finance, guided viewers in how to choose personal retirement accounts and what questions to ask for a story on WTHR.
Dr. Karl Knapp, dean of the School of Business, and Michael Hasik, director of graduate business programs, discussed the unveiling of a stackable flex MBA—the first of its kind in Indiana—and how it better meets the needs of today’s students and employers to the Indianapolis Business Journal. In addition, Dr. Knapp shared his expertise in the importance of creating great corporate culture to attract top talent in a story for the Indianapolis Star.
Dr. Tanuja Singh and Andrea Walker, associate athletic director for academics, were quoted for a WISH-TV story as the University of Indianapolis announced the addition of women’s triathlon and women’s bowling teams as NCAA varsity sports starting this fall.
Dr. Cindy Bowers, interim associate dean and chief nurse administrator, and Janice Wellington, instructor of nursing, were honored as 2024 Nurses of Influence nominees by the Indiana State Nurses Association.
Dr. Amanda Miller, chair of the Department of Sociology, and Dr. James Willis, assistant professor of practice for philosophy & religion, collaborated to write an essay pointing out the risks of losing religion as one of the great organizing structures and connecting points for society—as well as some possible solutions—to USA Today, a piece which was extensively syndicated across the country.
Dr. Krista Latham, professor of biology and anthropology, as well as the director of the Human Identification Center, was thanked by the Hamilton County Coroner in helping identify new remains recovered from Fox Hollow Farm by outlets like Current Publishing as well as WRTV. The story on Fox 59 was extensively syndicated, including by Yahoo News.
Dr. Matt Will, associate professor of finance, provided his expert analysis on various economic news in multiple interviews with Tony Katz on WIBC.
Dr. Kenneth Shields, visiting assistant professor of philosophy, wrote a peer-reviewed perspectives piece on Psychology Today Online about the wisdom of resetting our political expectations and treating the political identities like neurodivergence to encourage dialogue, building back trust with radical sensitivity.
Dr. Marc Milne, professor of biology, is leading a search for spiders at Oliver’s Woods next month as reported by the Urban Times and the Central Indiana Land Trust.
Carey Dahncke, executive director of the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL), encouraged state lawmakers to pay for educators to receive training for new literacy endorsement requirements to WFYI.
Sandy Hillman, director of Early College at CELL, was quoted by the Hamilton County Reporter as well as the Lebanon Reporter when it was announced that Sheridan High School earned its Early College endorsement.
Dr. Gregory Shufeldt, associate professor of political science, provided his perspective on the primary the day after Election Day to WRTV. He also pointed out that while it was the most competitive primary in Indiana in years, voter turnout was still exceedingly low in a story to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Jama Sharp and Interim Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. D. Scott Gines were quoted by WISH-TV as Sharp was announced as the new head women’s basketball coach.
Dr. Laura Merrifield Wilson, associate professor of political science, analyzed Indiana’s first competitive primary in two decades to National Public Radio, a story that was syndicated more than 200 times across the country. She discussed the Indiana House race drawing a historic number of Republican contenders for CNHI newspapers, a story syndicated in places like the Logansport Pharos-Tribune and the Kokomo Tribune. She talked about how outside spending in three of Indiana’s congressional races were among the nation’s top ten and the voting groups most likely to decide Indiana’s elections to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. She provided analysis to the Washington Examiner for how the GOP primary will lead to a leadership shakeup for the state as well as the five things to watch for ahead of the primary. After the primary election, she discussed Jefferson Shreve’s win in the 6th District and Mike Braun’s win in the governor’s race to the Indianapolis Business Journal. She discussed the overall results in a live interview on Fox 59, for the Courthouse News, for the Daily Journal, for the Governing website and for UIndy adjunct faculty member Abdul-Hakim Shabazz’s radio show on WIBC as well as his IndyPolitics.org website. She analyzed the implications for a deceased woman winning the Republican primary in the 7th District to WTHR. On WFYI, she analyzed the implications for Nikki Haley’s performance as well as participated in the Indiana Newsdesk program. She was one of the featured panelists for the IN Focus political roundtable on WXIN and WTTV both before the primary as well as after the ballots had been counted. After Mike Braun chose a woman as his choice for a running, she discussed Indiana’s lack of female governors, while at the same time having a strong record of Hoosier women being lieutenant governors to the Associated Press for an article that was syndicated more than 100 times around the country. After former President Donald Trump’s conviction, she analyzed the verdict’s implications for WIBC as well as WISH-TV. She is also moderating a series of four panels throughout the summer delving into the issues of housing insecurity throughout the summer—a series that was covered by Mirror Indy.
Are you a UIndy faculty or staff member who was recently featured in the media? Let the Office of Communications and Marketing know at newsdesk@uindy.edu to be included in the next monthly update.