HEAL Fellows: Past Cohorts

Elenice DeSouza Oliveira, Ph.D. (Justice Studies), Fostering a Culture of Sustainable and Systematic Flourishing at Montclair State University

Dr. DeSouza Oliveira is eager to join efforts to foster a culture of student wellbeing and flourishing at Montclair State University, ensuring sustainability and systematic implementation. This HEAL Fellowship project advances a sustainable and integrated culture of human flourishing at Montclair State University, supporting the well-being, growth, and development of students, faculty, and staff across academic communities.  The initiative began with a pilot in collaboration with the Pre-Med Program community and will inform broader efforts across other academic areas. Its primary goal is to develop a comprehensive Human Flourishing initiative that integrates flourishing principles into curricular and co-curricular experiences through collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches.  The project also strengthens institutional capacity by developing assessment tools, generating empirical data, and identifying best practices to support student well-being and holistic development. In parallel, it equips faculty and staff with shared language, practical strategies, and experiential learning opportunities to embed human flourishing into academic life. This work seeks to ensure that flourishing and thriving across students, faculty, and staff at MSU are intentional, purposeful, measurable, and sustainable. DeSOUZA OLIVEIRA HEAL Final Report

Manveer Mann (Marketing), Scaling Up, Serving More: Expanding Faculty Engagement in Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning

Dr. Mann will use the HEAL fellowship to deepen the culture of community-engaged teaching and learning at Montclair. She will partner with various offices and departments to develop and implement initiatives in two areas. First, develop workshops focused on community-engaged pedagogy to increase awareness and build expertise in community-engaged pedagogy among MSU faculty. Additionally, develop a library of community-engaged teaching and learning materials as a resource and knowledge base. Second, develop a framework to connect a network of community-based partners and projects with MSU faculty. This framework will support the integration of community-based projects and/or service-learning into course curriculum. MANN HEAL Final Report

Peter A. Hosick, PhD, CEP, FACSM (Kinesiology), Physical Activity as a Vital Sign of Health: A Strategic Approach to Student Success

As a HEAL Fellow, Dr. Hosick will focus on implementing the Exercise Is Medicine On Campus (EIM-OC) initiative at Montclair to promote physical activity as a vital sign of student health and success. This program aims to reduce stress and anxiety among college students by integrating physical activity screening, referral systems, and supportive programming into campus life. This effort aligns with Montclair’s commitment to student well-being and offers a meaningful opportunity to strengthen both my leadership in higher education and the campus culture of wellness. Ultimately, his project seeks to create lasting impact by empowering students to prioritize movement for both mental and physical health. MANN HEAL Final Report

Alicia A. Broderick, Teaching and Learning:  Disrupting Institutionalized Neuronormativity through the Development of an Institute for Neurodivergent Innovation & Leadership

Dr. Broderick will use the HEAL Fellowship to develop an Institute for Neurodivergent Innovation and Leadership here at Montclair.  This three-pronged initiative is designed to cultivate and nurture a more neuroinclusive culture at Montclair; to platform and amplify neurodivergent talent, innovation, and leadership on campus; and to curate and support the production of vanguard neurodivergent scholarship at Montclair and beyond. The Institute’s aims will be addressed through the development of a community Neurodivergent Safe Space Training program, and through collaboratively exploring and building partnerships with existing entities and initiatives on campus–for both students and employees–that might recognize, value, and develop neurodivergent leadership on campus. BRODERICK HEAL Final Report

Christopher Donoghue, Sociology: Enhancing Student Belonging & Resilience in Higher Education: A Competing Demands Framework

Dr. Donoghue is engaged in a longitudinal survey of student sense of belonging and its connection to academic success. An important part of the project is understanding the needs of students, their physical and mental health status, and the competing demands in their lives such as work and student activities. The goals of the project are to develop baseline information on student needs and belonging, identify groups of students that are in the greatest need of support, and to develop an informed strategy for enhancing academic success. The project is informed by feedback from students, faculty, administrators, and staff from across the campus community. Donoghue HEAL Fellowship Final Report

Livia Alexander, Art and Design: NextGen EduVerse: Innovating Higher Education with Customizable Immersive Media and Game-Based Learning Tools

As a HEAL fellow, Dr. Alexander will be leading a project responding to shifts in higher education prompted by Generation Z students and the COVID-19 pandemic. Its core aim is to integrate game-based learning into curricula, enhancing student engagement and outcomes. By leveraging gaming methodologies, the project offers a fresh approach to learning for digital-native students. Through research, collaboration, and phased development, Dr. Alexander seeks to create a modular gaming engine tailored to higher education needs. Workshops, surveys, and pilot testing will inform the creation of a robust framework for game-based learning at Montclair State University. Alexander HEAL Final Report

Dr. Alexander has put together a library of resources and tools to be used by all faculty who are interested to learn more about game-based learning.

• Database: Board Games Templates and Resources
• Database: Books and Articles
• Database: Online Resources
• Database: Video Games as Pedagogical Resources

Jennifer Bragger, Psychology: Soaring with Collaborative Service-Oriented Development and Design Thinking: A Needs Analysis to Redesign the Leadership Development and Civic Engagement Minor

Dr. Bragger seeks to redesign the Leadership Development and Civic Engagement Minor to better align the learning and experiences within the minor with student preferences, organizational needs, and the strategic direction of Montclair. Through redesigning the minor, Montclair can be uniquely positioned to lead the charge of developing students to lead through serving others in their community. HEAL Proposal 2023 – J Bragger

Blanca Elizabeth Vega, Educational Leadership: Toward an Equity Minded Faculty Development Model

Dr. Vega will use this fellowship to explore, develop, and implement a set of initiatives that would inform an equity-minded faculty development cycle model by drawing on research and practices advocated for by Gina Garcia and others and encapsulated by the phrase “servingness” to include a set of organizational practices that move HSIs away from simply enrolling Latine students to supporting them (Garcia et al., 2019). These indicators and structures (Garcia et al., 2019). Within this model, faculty development is an important structure to consider as Montclair State strives to enact critical and sustained support for all its students. My goal is to enact servingness by providing support to faculty throughout their development cycle with knowledge, skills, and dispositions in equity-mindedness. HEAL – VEGA Final Report

Milton Fuentes, Psychology: Understanding the Heterogeneity in the Latine Community and Assessing our Readiness for the Seal of Excelencia

This project focuses on two primary areas: exploring the heterogeneity of the Latine student
population at MSU (1) and assessing the readiness of MSU for the Seal of Excelencia awarded by Excelencia in Education (2). In the first area, he will survey undergraduate students to understand how other identity variables such as country of origin, racial-ethnic identification, skin color, and intersectionality inform their academic lived experiences. In area two, he will key review components from the Excelencia framework, such as data, practices, and leadership at Montclair to see how well we are serving our Latine students.
 

Brigid Callahan Harrison, Political Science: Creating the First Gen Faculty Initiative

Dr. Harrison will be undertaking the First Gen Faculty Initiative which is a new volunteer initiative among MSU faculty (and staff and administrators) who are themselves the first in their families to graduate college, and who hope to improve the sense of belonging, efficacy, retention, and graduation rates among First Gen Montclair students (who constitute about 45% of our student body). These students are more likely to be retained less than non-First Gen students.

She is working with various offices and departments to form individual and group mentorship cohorts, create programs for current, prospective, and incoming students to increase their sense of belonging and ease the transition to higher education, and discover best practices being used at other colleges and universities around to the country to serve the needs of First Gen students. Harrison HEAL Final Report

Jeff Strickland, History: Data-Informed Curriculum Reform and Course Redesign for Equity and Student Success

Dr. Strickland has begun a student success initiative that has three interrelated goals. First, he will implement data-informed curriculum reform to create equitable student pathways to success using Curricular Analytics.

Second, he will create and implement a plan for course redesign of general education courses
that supports teaching, learning, success, completion, and retention.

Finally, he will evaluate student assessment practices in courses to improve equity and success in general education courses. Together, the aforementioned goals will foster a more equitable curriculum aimed at serving our racially and ethnically diverse students. HEAL Proposal 2022 – J. Strickland