Faculty and Staff Highlights: Canadinc, Chace, Henning, Hoover, Spriggs
May 02, 2024
Webster University faculty and staff highlights offer a roundup of recent Webster faculty and staff activity and achievements.
Canadinc Awarded ARCC King Medal Award
Seda Tuzun Canadinc, PhD, a visiting assistant professor in the School of Communications, received the ARCC King Medal Award from her alumnus, Texas A&M, for her PhD research in the architectural and environmental realm. This award recognizes innovation, integrity and scholarship in environmental design research.
An expert on computational methods in architecture, Canadinc’s research focuses on the use of augmented reality to simplify the complex assembly process.
The ARCC King Student Medal Award is given by the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) to celebrate excellence in architectural and environmental research.
Chace Presents at International ESL Expo
Adelia Chace, an instructor in the English as a Second Language program at the Webster Groves campus, presented a virtual session titled “Tickets to Success: Enhancing Student Learning with Knowledge Checks” at the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) 2024 International Convention & Expo, which was held April 11-12, virtually and at the Tampa Convention Center and the Tampa Marriott Water Street hotel in Tampa, Florida.
Chace discussed utilizing entrance and exit tickets as a pedagogical approach to boost students’ confidence, facilitate learning, and improve student retention of course material. Attendees left the presentation with hands-on strategies and materials to implement review activities in the form of entrance and exit tickets into their own classrooms.
Henning Co-Authors a National Ethics Text
Stacy Henning, an associate professor in the professional counseling department at the Webster Groves campus, co-authored a second edition national ethics text titled “Ethical Decision Making for the 21st Century Counselor.”
This is an ethics text for the profession of clinical counseling, according to Henning. “We were asked to complete a second edition because the first was such a success. The text is used by many graduate counseling programs in the US.”
Hoover Participating in Two Upcoming Readings
Elizabeth Hoover, a professor in the English department at the Webster Groves campus, will be reading creative nonfiction about queer friendship with the poet Safa Khatib on Thursday, May 2 at 7 p.m., at the Granite City Art and Design District as part of the Changling Queer Reading series. The event is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted for the readers.
She will also do a reading on Saturday, May 25 at 7 p.m., in the poetry series Salon Salvage in Troy, New York.
Spriggs Presents at Mental Wellbeing Conference
Melissa Spriggs, PhD, presented "Mindful Self-compassion: A Critical Employee Mental Wellbeing Tool" at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing Annual Conference (NatCon24) on April 16 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Spriggs’ presentation covered how “helping professionals” typically offer compassion to others but are often harsh critics of themselves. According to Spriggs, who is an assistant professor and director for the MA in Human Services program at the Webster Groves campus, the emotional labor involved in social services work can also be intense. These types of professionals need to be equipped with effective tools to help them heal, sustain and thrive in the field amidst the many pressures and challenges of serving others. Mindful self-compassion is an excellent evidence-based approach that helpers can utilize to become more resilient and at peace, Spriggs said. She reviewed the basics of mindful self-compassion and its research along with the types of resources available.
NatCon is the largest conference in mental health and substance use treatment. Over 5,000 health care professionals gathered at the America's Center Convention Complex in St. Louis from April 15-17. The conference featured a closing keynote conversation with Former First Lady, Michelle Obama.