First Opportunity Grants awarded to faculty

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The new Opportunity Grant Professional Development Program awarded its first grants to 51 teaching and clinical non-tenure-line faculty.  

The first round of awardees applied to the Opportunity Grant pilot earlier this semester. A total of $289,183 in funding was awarded for spring 2025. Applications are still open for the next round of grants that will provide funding for the 2025-26 academic year for all eligible full-time non-tenure-line faculty. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Dec. 9. 

“We had many excellent applications to our pilot round focused on topics such as technology integration, assessment, sustainability, student well-being, community engagement and more. We are pleased with the diverse array of projects our faculty will pursue in the spring,” said Kathy Bieschke, vice provost for Faculty Affairs. “We’re eager to see this program grow and provide non-tenure-line faculty with opportunities to build their knowledge and skills in ways that support their development and growth in their roles .” 

The pilot program of the Opportunity Grant Professional Development Program is supported financially by the Office of the President. It is administered by the Penn State Office of Faculty Affairs. 

The spring 2025 Opportunity Grant Professional Development Program awardees are: 

• Melba Amador Medina, assistant teaching professor, Penn State New Kensington, “Professional Development in Embedded Education Abroad.” 
• Michael Beck, professor of internal medicine and pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, “Study of the Effects of Team-based Learning and Coaching on Burnout, Engagement and Psychological Capital.” 
• Sekhar Bhattacharyya, associate teaching professor, Energy and Mineral Engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, “Enhancing Expertise in Safety, Health, and Sustainability in the Natural Resources and Energy Sectors Through Professional Development and Curriculum Innovation.” 
• Ann Brennan, associate teaching professor, Penn State Wilkes-Barre, “Sustainability and LEGO Serious Play.” 
• Tracey Carbonetto, associate teaching professor, Penn State Lehigh Valley, “Change Brings Opportunity: A Training Program for Upper-Division Engineering Students in Effective Public Policy.” 
• Rachel Casas, associate professor of medicine, Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, “Advancing Leadership Skills: A Professional Development Initiative for Early Clinician Educators.” 
• Jessica Clontz, assistant teaching professor, Penn State DuBois, “End of Life Public Lecture Series to Support Local Families.” 
• Simon Cottart, assistant teaching professor, French and Francophone Studies Department, College of the Liberal Arts, “Leveraging AI to Enhance Language Learning: Integrating ChatGPT in French Writing Pedagogy.” 
• David Dieteman, associate teaching professor, Penn State Behrend, “Redesign of BA 241 and 242.” 
• Tammy Divens, teaching professor, Penn State Shenango, “Neurodiverse Classroom.” 
• Anna Divinsky, associate teaching professor, College of Arts and Architecture, “Building a Collaborative and Immersive Virtual Exhibition Space for an Asynchronous Remote General Education Art Course.” 
• Matthew Endres, associate teaching professor, Eberly College of Science, “Assessment and Implementation of Course Structure Using the CCEDIR Tool From Undergraduate Learning Assistants’ Perspectives.” 
• Jennifer Lynn Eury, clinical associate professor of management and organization, Management and Organization Department, Smeal College of Business, “Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Certification.” 
• Laura Evans, teaching professor of human development and family studies, Penn State Brandywine, “Supporting Instructor Flourishing to Enhance Student Flourishing.” 
• Mahfuza Farooque, associate teaching professor of computer science and engineering, College of Engineering, “Enhancing Student Engagement in a Large-Scale Computer Science Course Through Interactive Bite-Size Video Learning Resources.” 
• Jared Frederick, associate teaching professor of history, College of the Liberal Arts, “Display Cases for Rotating Historical Exhibits.” 
• Beatriz Garcia Glick, teaching professor of Spanish, Penn State Hazleton, “New Course: Court Interpreter: Basic Notions.” 
• Catie Grant, assistant teaching professor of telecommunication and media industries, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, “Enhancing Creativity and Leadership Through AI: A Professional Development Initiative for Faculty and Students.” 
• Tom C. Hogan, professor of practice in human resource management, School of Labor & Employment Relations, College of the Liberal Arts, “Leveraging Generative AI and Machine Learning to Create a Classroom of the Future.” 
• Heather Holleman, associate teaching professor of English, College of the Liberal Arts, “Intervention Addressing Loneliness in the College Writing Classroom.” 
• Joseph Houck, associate teaching professor of chemistry, Eberly College of Science, “Discipline-Based Education Research as Professional Development: Assessing the Impact of Specifications Grading on Student Learning and Affect.” 
• Vivian Hsu, teaching professor, Penn State Abington, “From Personal to Relational to Professional: Embracing Emotional Competency and Adaptability to Elevate Transformational Outcomes.” 
• Joel Vinson Hunt, associate teaching professor of music and digital media, arts, and technology, Penn State Behrend, “Developing a Course in Video Game Music and Sound Design.” 
• James Jaap, teaching professor of English, Penn State Greater Allegheny, “Western Pennsylvania Art and Literature Project.” 
• Linlin Jensen, associate teaching professor of chemistry, Eberly College of Science, “Impact of an Integrated Math Intervention on Student Learning in Physical Chemistry Courses.” 
• Alandra Frances Kahl, teaching professor, Penn State Greater Allegheny, “Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion for First-Generation Students: A First-Year Seminar Course Approach.” 
• Julie Lentes, senior instructor of public health sciences, College of Medicine, “Building a More Equitable Global Health Education System: A Faculty Training Program in Senegal Focused on Decolonial Perspectives in Experiential Learning, Program Design, and Leadership.” 
• Siu Ling Leung, associate teaching professor of mechanical engineering, College of Engineering, “Advancing Professional Skills in Generative AI: Enhancing Student Success and Assessment Strategies.” 
• Elise Lindquist, assistant teaching professor of communication sciences and disorders, College of Health and Human Development, “Advancing Speech-Language Pathology Education Through Simulation-Based Learning.” 
• Stephen Looney, teaching professor of applied linguistics, College of the Liberal Arts, “From ‘Teaching American English Pronunciation’ to ‘Multilingual Pronunciation for Language Teachers’: A Student-Informed Course Revision.” 
• Heather C. Mccune Bruhn, associate teaching professor, College of Arts and Architecture, “Art Materials, Techniques and Science: Developing Affordable and Accessible Interdisciplinary Experiences for an Online Introduction to Art History.” 
• Faith McDonald, associate teaching professor of English, College of the Liberal Arts, “Request for Funds to Hire a Writing Coach to Encourage and Advise as I Complete a Submission-Worthy Book-Length Project.” 
• Larry Musolino, assistant teaching professor of mathematics, Penn State Lehigh Valley, “Creation of STEM Resource Center at Penn State Lehigh Valley Campus to Improve Student Success and Persistence.” 
• Joseph Oakes, associate teaching professor, Penn State Abington, “AI Agents to Perform Analysis on Cybersecurity Systems.” 
• Tiffany Alana Petricini, associate teaching professor, Penn State Behrend, “Certification to Improve AI Teaching Effectiveness.” 
• Alejandro Ramirez Arballo, associate teaching professor of Spanish, College of the Liberal Arts, “Winning with Digital Platforms: Certification from the Harvard Online Business School.” 
• Eric Robbins, associate teaching professor in finance, Penn State Behrend, “Certified Financial Therapist.” 
• Keely Roen, associate teaching professor, Penn State DuBois, “Training and Integration of New Technologies (Bioacoustics and Drones) Into Wildlife Technology.” 
• Elzbieta Sikora, teaching professor of engineering science and mechanics, College of Engineering, “How to Choose Engineering Materials for the Sustainable Future: Developing an Introductory Course on Sustainable Development in Materials Engineering.” 
• Brad Sottile, associate teaching professor of computer science and engineering, College of Engineering, “Change Brings Opportunity: A Training Program for Upper-Division Engineering Students in Effective Public Policy.” 
• Philip Stuczynski, assistant teaching professor of finance, Penn State Behrend, “Acquiring Skills Through Professional Development: Advancing Knowledge of Research and Teaching Through Smeal’s Executive DBA Program.” 
• Jodie Styers, associate teaching professor, Penn State Behrend, “Assessing Teachers’ Knowledge and Implementation of the Standards for Mathematics Practice.” 
• Karen Johnson Stylianides, associate teaching professor of kinesiology, College of Health and Human Development, “Expanding Immersive Learning: Advancing Virtual Reality Integration for Enhanced Student Engagement and Faculty Development on Penn State Commonwealth Campuses.” 
• Christina Taheri, assistant teaching professor of English, College of the Liberal Arts, “Inquiry into Reading-Centered Approaches to Rhetoric and Composition Instruction.” 
• Mami Tanaka, assistant teaching professor of Asian studies, College of the Liberal Arts, “Enhancing Program Quality Through Japanese OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview by ACTFL) Tester Recertification: Evaluating Students’ Japanese Language Speaking Proficiency and Outcomes.” 
• H. John Thompson, associate teaching professor, Penn State Abington, “Interdisciplinary Wooden Boatbuilding Course Development.” 
• Carmen Vanderhoof, assistant teaching professor, Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, “Exploring Climate Justice from Local to Global Contexts.” 
• Gina Whalen, associate teaching professor, Penn State Schuylkill, “Enhancing Online Business Education and Expanding Accelerated Learning Through e-Learning Design.” 
• Tara Wyckoff, associate teaching professor of advertising and public relations, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, “Strategic and Ethical Decision-Making Model for Intro to Strategy Class.” 
• Robin Yaure, professor of teaching, Penn State Mont Alto, “College Student Persistence and Academic Success.” 
• Bill Zimmerman, assistant teaching professor of advertising and public relations, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, “A Front Row to the Creator Economy.”