UIndy Faculty, Staff Provide Expert Insight to Local & National Media in February

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 February:

Rick Dunkle, assistant professor of practice in communication and general manager of UIndy TV and WICR, explained how UIndy students are using artificial intelligence as part of their creative process for WRTV.

Emily Tisdale, executive director of the Center for Aging & Community and adjunct faculty, penned an OpEd about how upcoming Medicaid work requirements will particularly hurt unpaid caregivers for a piece which was published by STAT.

Dr. Yimin Wang, dean of UIndy Online and the Sease Institute, discussed what was next for the University of Indianapolis’s online offering for an article in Mirror Indy which was also syndicated by WISH-TV. She also was interviewed for a similar story in the Daily Journal.

Dr. Ted Frantz, chair of the history department and director of the Institute of Civic Leadership, sat down for live interviews on both WXIN and WISH-TV in advance of the 11th annual Fairbanks Symposium. He discussed the symposium’s key topic of civility with the Daily Journal as well as the Public News Service. He provided historical context to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union message for an interview with the Associated Press and was syndicated by more than 300 outlets coast to coast including the Orlando Sentinel and the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Dr. John Kuykendall, dean of the School of Education, and Dr. Rachel Feldwisch, associate dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, were quoted by WTHR as the University of Indianapolis announced a new school psychology graduate program to address a school psychologist shortage in Indiana.

Dr. Tracy Johnson, assistant professor of education, conducted a live interview with both WXIN and WISH-TV ahead of the first UIndy Community Literacy Day. She was also interviewed about the event by the Daily Journal. She discussed the importance and excitement of literacy with both WRTV and WXIN when the news stations covered the actual event.

Dr. Laura Merrifield Wilson, associate professor of political science, shared her expertise with USA Today for a story questioning if Beau Bayh can win back the working class of Indiana. She wrote an OpEd for the Indiana Capital Chronicle on the topic of civility ahead of the Fairbanks Symposium, which was syndicated by outlets like the Columbus Republic and the Daily Journal. She shed insight with WTHR on a Statehouse bill on data centers, the First Amendment rights of high school students who walked out of class in protest of ICE actions as well as the divided response from Indiana lawmakers—a story which also appeared on WHAS in Louisville. She analyzed the debate over immigration as Democratic candidates in the House District 7 race disagreed about the proper response to WXIN as well as WANE. She served as a featured panelist for the IN Focus program on WXIN as well as Indiana Week in Review on WFYI. She shared her insight on the ongoing national debate on the public display of the 10 Commandments as Indiana’s bill on the issue failed for a story in The Statehouse File, which was subsequently syndicated by the Indiana Citizen and the Daily Journal. She analyzed the importance of endorsements in the Hamilton County sheriff’s race for the Indianapolis Star. She provided expert analysis to WRTV as content creators sued the Trump Administration officials for unlawfully removing their ICE monitoring content from various social media platforms. She discussed the State of the Union address with WXIN as well as WTHR, which led to the content also appearing in KAGS in Waco, Texas, and WMTV in Madison, Wisconsin.

Marianna Foulkrod, director of the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement, explained the impact behind the nationwide recognition that UIndy received for being awarded the Community Engagement Classification by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to the Daily Journal.

Keith Fechtman, director of University Events, shared about his hobby of using artificial intelligence to create music with Center Grove Magazine.

Ryon Kaopuiki, vice president for enrollment management, discussed how the University of Indianapolis is preparing for the threat of the coming enrollment cliff with the Indianapolis Star.

Dr. Milind Thakar, professor of international programs and the director of the international relations graduate program, and Dr. Douglas Woodwell, professor of international relations, were both mentioned in the Columbus Republic for upcoming conversations each expert is hosting as part of Great Decisisions—America’s largest discussion program on world affairs. Thakar is discussing “America and the World: Trump 2.0 Foreign Policy” in April. Woodwell is discussing the topic of U.S.-China relations on March 12.

Coran Sigman, live mascot handler and marketing & communications manager, was featured along with Grady the Greyhound for a feature on the most popular “petfluencers” of Indianapolis for Indianapolis Monthly.

Michelle Duman, chief information officer, and Dr. Alli Snyder, associate dean and associate professor of data analytics in the School of Business, received mention in the Daily Journal for participating in the next yearlong Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) Leadership Academy.

Dr. Vincent O. van Empeh, assistant professor of practice and director of accreditation in the School of Business, explained how people can improve their credit scores using a credit card for bad credit for WalletHub.

Susan Chan, adjunct music faculty member, was cited in the Columbus Republic for being one of the judges for the 2026 Brown Music Awards.

Vince Bertram, assistant professor in the School of Business, was announced as a new member of the Otus Advisory Board by GlobeNewswire. The press release was also mentioned by other media outlets including WCHM in Columbus, Ohio, the Associated Press, and the Hong Kong Business Reporter.

Dr. Matt Will, associate professor of finance, discussed various financial topics during several live interviews with Tony Katz on WIBC including mixed signals in economic news, holiday sales report and the latest inflation numbers.

Dr. Larry Belcher, professor of finance, shared his expertise on the topic of balance transfer fees and disclosure of them by credit card companies for WalletHub.

Dr. Gregory Shufeldt, associate professor of political science, explained to the Indianapolis Star how the split by Republican lawmakers on data centers could split the party. He analyzed the impact of Hoosier high school students staging school walkouts throughout Indiana with WRTV.

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.