March 2024

A labor of love

Dr. Liza Wilson leaving the College of Education after more than 32 years

Family and friends, colleagues and former students all gathered at Alumni Hall Friday afternoon to celebrate Dr. Liza Wilson and her education career.

Stories were shared and tears were shed as person after person expressed their congratulations, giving a glimpse at how many lives she has impacted and enriched through the years in the College of Education.

These are the moments and memories Dr. Wilson will carry with her when she closes her career with the College and retires at the end of March. As she reflects on the past 32 years at the University, the key word that comes to mind is “blessed.”

“Being a student then having the opportunity to return (to UA) and be on the faculty for all these years … it means so much,” she said. “I was very fortunate to fill a lot of different roles (in the College), form relationships, do research, and work with the community. These things made me better and helped me to do my job better – that has been a big blessing.”

Wilson has seen all sides of the College during her career. She started as an assistant professor in 1991, moving from professorship to roles as department head, director of the school partnership office, senior associate dean, and interim dean.

“Seeing what goes on behind the scenes to support our students and make this college function, being part of that has been so exciting,” Wilson said. “It has been very meaningful for me to make some type of contribution, learn the process, then see the magnitude of how things have changed over these years.”

Liza Wilson at a Homecoming event in the 1990s.

Liza Wilson at a Homecoming event in the 1990s.

Her passion for education and dedication to the College has never wavered, and teaching has remained a constant throughout her academic career, even as she made the transition into administration. This semester, Wilson had the opportunity to spend more time in classrooms around the community as a volunteer teacher and Clinical Master Teacher (CMT) for secondary education certification settings.

Seeing students working in schools, making progress, and earning their certification is extremely rewarding and something Dr. Wilson will always cherish.

“It has been incredibly memorable to watch the teacher pinning ceremony and see that level of recognition for what these students are choosing to do in their lives,” she said. “Having the joy of getting to see that come to fruition – that is a big thing for me to take with me.”

Last spring, Dr. Wilson was named the winner of the 2023 E. Roger Sayers Distinguished Service Award and played an integral role in preparing the College for its accreditation review. She worked diligently with Assessment Team members to ensure success. The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) review team gave the College an exceptional review recommending no stipulations or areas for improvement.

Though she is looking forward to retirement – and an upcoming trip to Greece to visit family – she said her time with the College has not felt like work.

“The relationships I’ve formed made me never want to leave,” Wilson said. “… Whether it's faculty, staff, students, school partners, or community partners, I have made so many professional and personal connections that mean the world to me.”

Her more than 32 years here have truly been a labor of love.

Upcoming conference allows graduate students to sharpen research presentation skills

SUGRS accepting proposal submissions, invites public to attend events in April

Graduate students interested in gaining presentation and conference experience will have the chance to do just that in April at the Southeastern Universities Graduate Research Symposium (SUGRS).

SUGRS 2024 will take place April 15-26, featuring guest speakers and panels as well as educational sessions and workshops, both in-person and virtual. Attendants will also have the opportunity to network, share their research, and practice presentations while receiving feedback and support.

Graduate students from all colleges and graduate programs are invited to participate. This can be done individually or with a group and more than one proposal may be submitted. All fields of research and topics are welcome, though a faculty advisor is required.

Proposals can be submitted at sugrs.ua.edu/open-call, by clicking the Submit Here button, and filling out the submission form. Proposal abstracts must be submitted electronically no later than April 1. Poster and paper proposals are due electronically no later than April 5.

Students with the best presentations will receive annual symposium awards, some of which may include research funds. Faculty, staff, students, and community members are also welcome to attend events.

SUGRS is hosted by the Department of Educational Studies in Psychology Research Methodology, and Counseling (ESPRMC) in the UA College of Education along with partners including Auburn University, Baylor University, the University of Georgia, Virginia Commonwealth, and the University of Tennessee.

The symposium started in 2009 and has grown over the years to include programs and colleges beyond the College of Education as well as regional partner schools and universities.

For additional details regarding the conference and proposal submission requirements, please visit sugrs.ua.edu. Questions can be emailed to sugrs@ua.edu.

Scan the QR code below to submit a proposal:

Dr. Claire Major, faculty director of UA Teaching Academy and professor of higher education administration

Dr. Major named UA's 2024 SEC Faculty Achievement Award recipient

She is now a nominee for Professor of the Year

In February, Dr. Claire Major was recognized for her outstanding dedication to teaching, research, and service when she was announced as the winner of The University of Alabama's 2024 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.

This honor is a testament to Dr. Major's accomplishments and contributions to her field during her more than 30-year career in higher education.

“Professor Major is an incredibly talented teacher and researcher,” said UA Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Jim Dalton in an announcement. “Her foundational leadership of UA’s Teaching Academy, innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and scholarly excellence underscore her exemplary career and profound influence in higher education and distinguish her as UA’s outstanding nominee for SEC Professor of the Year.”

The SEC will announce its 2024 Professor of the Year later this spring. This professor is chosen from the Faculty Achievement Award recipients and will be honored during the annual SEC Awards Dinner in Destin, Fla.

Major is currently the faculty director of the UA Teaching Academy and teaches masters and doctoral level courses as a professor of higher education. Her research, which centers on instructional approaches and technology, can be found in top-tier journals, and she has authored and co-authored books focusing on learning assessment, online education, as well as qualitative research and instructional methods.

Throughout her career, she has given numerous presentations at national and international conferences as well as colleges and universities in the U.S. and across the world. Major received the 2022 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award for her exceptional teaching, research, and scholarship.

Exercise Science undergraduate quiz team wins SEACSM student bowl

On Feb. 23, the Kinesiology Department's exercise science quiz bowl team celebrated victory after competing in the Undergraduate Student Bowl at this year's Southeast Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine meeting.

The team members tested their Exercise Science knowledge in the "Jeopardy!"-style bowl and defeated 31 other groups from throughout the Southeast. The UA Kinesiology team included undergraduate students Alex Gruchot, Mitch Roussey, Kelsi Wells, and Grace Carmosino (alternate) who were coached by PhD graduate assistants Annie Mulholland and Grant Malone as well as MA graduate assistant Garrett Reuben.

The team will travel to Boston in May to represent the Southeast and compete for the National ACSM Student Bowl trophy during this year's ACSM Annual Meeting, which will take place May 28-31.

CHAMPIONS AGAIN

The UA women's wheelchair basketball team won their fifth consecutive national championship on March 9 after defeating the University of Texas at Arlington during the 2024 Women's Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball National Tournament.

Read the full Alabama Adapted Athletics article here.

‘More than just basketball’

Sport helps brothers find stability after accident changes their lives

During times of hardship, we sometimes struggle to find the momentum to carry us forward.

When Peter and Aaron Berry were confronted with one of the most difficult experiences in their lives, that impetus to persevere came in the form of wheelchair basketball.

The brothers were first introduced to the sport in 2011. Peter, 9 at the time, and Aaron, 8, were just months into physical rehabilitation after sustaining nearly identical spinal cord injuries during a car accident that left them both paralyzed from the waist down.

The boys, their parents, and their 5-year-old sister Willa were on their way home from a family road trip when another vehicle veered into their lane on the highway. The head-on crash claimed the lives of their parents, Josh and Robin, and left all three children injured. Peter and Aaron were found in critical condition, Aaron having fractured a vertebra in his neck in addition to the severe spinal cord damage.

After undergoing life-saving surgeries in Texas following the accident, the brothers were transferred to Shriners Children’s Chicago where they underwent months of rehabilitation therapy. During recreation time in therapy, Peter and Aaron were introduced to several adaptive sports, including wheelchair basketball.

“Basketball was probably our greatest distraction from the challenges that were in front of us,” Peter said. “(It) allows you to forget the outside world … which might be exactly what you need when going through something so traumatic.”

Once released from Shriners Children’s hospital, Peter and Aaron moved home with their aunt and uncle, who now were raising the Berry siblings alongside their own children. It wasn't long before their uncle took them to watch a community wheelchair basketball game. After the game, he asked one of the coaches how Aaron and Peter could get involved with the team.

“Show up at the next practice,” the coach told him.

They did just that, “and the rest is history,” Aaron said.

The sport quickly became a constant for the boys during this period of transition and recovery.

“When we got into our sports wheelchairs for the first time after our accident, it was so liberating,” Peter said. “There was no way not to fall in love with it. We regained all the freedom of movement and speed that we thought we lost.”

Basketball helped them relieve stress and escape from the world for a little while.

“It’s loud. It’s fast-paced. It requires a lot of concentration and communication,” Aaron said. “You really have no room to think about stress or anything else.”

The Berry brothers joined the Houston TIRR Memorial Hermann Junior Hotwheels basketball team, advancing quickly and contributing to three National Wheelchair Basketball Association National Championship wins.

From left, Peter Berry, Austin Smith, and Aaron Berry receive their 2023 Men's Wheelchair Basketball National Championship rings.

From left, Peter Berry, Austin Smith, and Aaron Berry receive their 2023 Men's Wheelchair Basketball National Championship rings.

“We took off with it and never looked back,” Peter said. “We were grateful and blessed to have an amazing team in Houston and a coach who pushed us beyond our known limits. It’s opened so many doors.”

Behind one of those doors for both Peter and Aaron were full scholarships to join the Alabama Adapted Athletics program and play men’s wheelchair basketball for the University. Since coming to the Capstone, they have thrived in the classroom and on the court, practicing and bonding with their teammates and coaches.

“It’s more than just basketball to me. It created a lot of friendships, relationships, and brotherly bonds,” Aaron said.

In 2023, the UA men's wheelchair basketball team won the NIWBT National Championship, and in 2022, Peter and Aaron were both chosen to represent Team USA at the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) Men’s Under 23 (U23) World Championship in Thailand.

Peter, now 22 and a senior in marketing with a minor in communications, will graduate this spring and is considering applying for law school in the future. He hopes to qualify to compete in wheelchair basketball at the Paralympic Games in Paris this summer and is also interested in playing professionally overseas for a few seasons.

Aaron, 20, is currently a junior earning his bachelor’s degree in management and marketing. Like Peter, he said he wants to play basketball overseas for a few years, but for now, he is “taking things as they come.”

A positive, one-day-at-a-time mentality has helped propel both brothers forward through the years.

“I don’t know what gifts our parents gave us to just be able to stay positive throughout that time, but it was one of the biggest things that kept us moving. ‘Take it step by step.’ That was always the mindset,” Peter said. “It was always, ‘Well, there has to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and if I can’t see it now, that just means the journey is not over.’”

Honors & Achievements

Dr. Kelly Guyotte, left; Dr. Stephanie Shelton, right.

Drs. Guyotte and Shelton deliver keynote speeches at TQR conference

Dr. Kelly Guyotte and Dr. Stephanie Anne Shelton were welcomed as keynote speakers on Feb. 29 at The Qualitative Report (TQR) Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Guyotte and Shelton serve as the College's director of faculty and director of diversity, respectively, and are associate professors specializing in qualitative research.

Dr. Kaiwen Man

Dr. Kaiwen Man earns Early Career Scholar Award

Dr. Kaiwen Man was announced as the winner of this year's Alicia Cascallar Award for an Outstanding Paper by an Early Career Scholar. This prestigious honor was established in memory of Alicia Cascallar and celebrates her commitment and contributions to the field of educational measurement. It also embodies her legacy of mentorship and support for emerging scholars.

This marks Dr. Man's second opportunity to step onto the national stage, following the Branda Loyd Dissertation Award from NCME, and to represent the University of Alabama with pride.

NCME was impressed with his research on the important issue of test security using the reaction time and eye-tracking data collected from computer-based digital tests. The award will be presented at the Business Meeting at the Annual NCME Conference this April.

Jacky Chapman, left, with Teresa Faulkner, right.

Jacky Chapman receives Rickey Yanaura Crimson Spirit Award

At the college-wide meeting this month, Jacky Chapman was honored with the Rickey Yanaura Crimson Spirit Award for her fierce dedication to the spirit of the College of Education.

The Rickey Yanaura Crimson Spirit Award, renamed in 2007 in honor of Rickey Yanaura, known as “the university photographer” for 25 years, recognizes employees who by actions, words, and deeds, make The University of Alabama an exceptional place to work and learn. Nominees for this award define “Crimson Spirit” by their very presence.

Dr. Shelton joins panel discussion on protecting LGBTQ+ students

Dr. Stephanie Anne Shelton spoke as a panelist during the Feb. 29 virtual event "Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth in Schools: Challenges, Strategies, and Possibilities." Shelton and four other leading LGBTQ+ advocates and scholars discussed the importance of protecting LGBTQ+ youth as they face discrimination from state lawmakers and school boards.

This event marked the publication of the second edition of The Sage Encyclopedia of LGBTQ+ Studies and was sponsored by Sage Publications; UMass Amherst Stonewall Center; UMass Amherst Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies; Five College Queer, Trans, and Sexuality Studies; and Clark University Women’s and Gender Studies.

Dr. Casar Rodriguez featured in documentary about rock climbing

Dr. Miguel Casar Rodriguez, assistant professor of qualitative research, makes an on-screen appearance in Bing Liu's recently released documentary called What the Hands Do.

The short film follows Casar Rodriguez and his wife Mariana Mendozac, both dedicated climbers and social justice advocates, as they consider how the sport of climbing can help bring positive change to communities across the world.

What the Hands Do is available to watch on YouTube.