5 Research Fellowships
By Natalie Eslamboli
Corsair Staff Writer

For the first time in 10 years, six professors from Santa Monica College have been awarded research fellowships. The results gathered by the different professors will be shared among faculty members and be used to improve classroom academia.

The Academic Senate Sabbatical and Fellowship Committee chose from 40 professors to give $1, 500 in each research fellowship. Using funds from its district and contract allowances.

“This fellowship is a way for the faculty to become more creative and will improve curriculum in classes and student success,” said Dr. Sharon Jaffe, chair of the Academic Senate Sabbatical and Fellowship Committee.

Ordinarily, the committee chooses eight sabbatical awards and five fellowships per year but due to budget shortages, the fellowships have not been granted in a decade.

Receiptients of the fellowships were: journalism professor Barbara Baird, nursing professor Ida Danzey, biology professors Oriana Kim Rajab and Kent Hodson, communication professor Bradley Lemonds, and library research professor Patty Sophos.

“This program stimulates faculty to accomplish projects that they only dreamed of doing. The money will compensate me for the time it will take for the research that the college will benefit from,” said Baird. “I feel honored to be a part of this.”

Baird will use her fellowship to conduct research that will provide new materials and lessons for the students working on the Santa Monica College newspaper, Corsair, as well as students in broadcasting, new media, and mass communication classes.

Danzey’s research project will focus attention to the seven standardized national exams that are administered to nursing students. Danzey plans to evaluate four to five years of exams and measure critical thinking, knowledge of therapeutic nursing interventions, and communication abilities.

The joined fellowship funded to biology professors Rajab and Hodson will help supply new scientific materials and tools. The materials will be used on a genetic engineering experiment that will be done during this semester.

“ It is an honor. My ultimate goal is to have a new course in digital video editing,” said Lemonds.
Lemonds’ believes the course will be ideal for students who are working on documentaries, short digital films or news reports.

“I am very happy to be able to update the Library 1 workbook to reflect current library resources. I enjoy teaching Library 1 because it helps students with their classes and improves their research skills,” said Sophos.

Sophos is planning to create a new online library research site and work on significant revisions to the fourth edition of the Library Research Methods Workbook. This workbook is assigned to more than eight library research courses.

“This is a wonderful opportunity that all faculty and students can benefit from, this research will have huge implications on the classroom,” said Gordon Cossette, president of the Academic Senate.