Senior wellness management major Mary Kwofie recently earned SUNY's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Norman R. McConney Jr. Award for Student Excellence. The award recognizes student excellence while overcoming obstacles, reflecting how Kwofie has navigated challenges, thanks to the support of EOP. Read full story.

Oswego Honors Program students recently presented at the Northeast Region Honors Council Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Maya Agosti presented her honors thesis work titled "At the Crossroads: The Importance of Women in Sports Through Sports Illustrated Covers." She is working on this project with Mohammad Tajvarpour and Gwen Kay. Madeline DeVito presented her work with Marthinus Koen titled "The Reality of International Research Ethics Policies in a Post-Covid World.” (photos submitted)

David Andrews of the Economics Department has been elected to a four-year term as treasurer of the History of Economics Society, a learned society in the field of the history of economics and economic methodology serving an international community.

During the March 2025 quarterly webinar for the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP), three SUNY Oswego School of Education representatives presented strategies to address mental well-being and trauma in education. They discussed how the School of Education aligns its work in preparing future educators with the new AAQEP standard designed to connect students with resources and mental health and well-being supports. Carlo Cuccaro, visiting assistant professor in school psychology, shared insights from his Professional Development School Liaison role. In this position, he has collaborated with a local school to implement and support a Multi-Tiered System of Support, underscoring the School of Education’s dedication to fostering strong partnerships and supporting P-12 students in our community. Stacey Pope, visiting assistant professor in curriculum and instruction, discussed her experience as a faculty supervisor for student teaching, a culminating field experience for future teachers. Her presentation focused on the crucial support provided during both preparation and practice, ensuring that teacher candidates are well-prepared and supported as they transition from classroom learning to applied learning and professional practice. Nicole Wise, associate dean for assessment and accreditation, presented a systems approach through policies and procedures. She emphasized the importance of building a cohesive response across a complex portfolio of programs by identifying the necessary supports and ensuring effective communication with students, faculty and staff. SUNY Oswego’s teacher preparation and professional school personnel programs are accredited by the AAQEP, a national accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Biology and chemistry faculty members and students collaborated on research and publication of the paper “Toxic effects of atrazine on freshwater mussels (Elliptio complanata)” in the Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry journal. Co-authors included Poongodi Geetha-Loganthan and Vaduod Niri from chemistry and James MacKenzie and Suresh Nimmagadda from biology, as well as three who participated as Oswego students and are now alumni in Manna Job, Miryam Makutonin and Jerome Job. 

Carolina Ilie, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, published a paper with physics major Joel Turallo (now an alumnus) in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (a Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute journal) titled "Proximity Effect of Optically Active h-BCN Nanoflakes Deposited on Different Substrates to Tailor Electronic, Spintronic, and Optoelectronic Properties." The other authors are Ahmad Alsaad from the Jordan University of Science and Technology, and Jaeil Bai, Wai-Ning Mei and Renat Sabirianov, all from the Department of Physics, University of Nebraska at Omaha.

A new health and science journalism book featured research by public relations assistant professor Khairul Islam. For this project, titled “Crisis Journalism and Professional Role Conceptions: A Survey of Journalists in Bangladesh,” Islam collaborated with Pradeep Sopory, a communication professor at Wayne State University, to survey Bangladeshi journalists and examine how COVID-19 influenced their professional role conceptions from a crisis communication perspective. The book, “Health and Science Journalism in the Twenty-First Century: Emerging Practices during Crises,” is available via Lexington Books.

April Lopez, assistant dean of students/basic care needs manager and campus lead for SUNY Oswego’s Student Helping Oz (SHOP), recently added a national role with Swipe Out Hunger’s Leadership Council. As a member of Swipe Out Hunger’s Leadership Council, Lopez collaborates with professionals across the country to fight student hunger. Read full story.

Lindsay McCluskey, associate professor of public relations and advisement coordinator for the Department of Communication Studies, recently hosted two roundtable discussions with industry practitioners and thought leaders in collaboration with Public Relay, a company specializing in media monitoring and analytics. In November, McCluskey hosted a roundtable in "Internal Communications in the Wake of the 2024 Election." In February, she led a conversation titled "A Fragmented Media Landscape: What's Next for Comms Strategy." McCluskey also led a panel discussion sponsored by the AEJMC Public Relations Division on "Best Practices and Case Studies in Study Abroad Education" in February. McCluskey was joined by Meghan Sanders, associate dean for research and graduate studies at Louisiana State University's Manship School; professor Brad Horn, associate dean for strategic initiatives at Syracuse University's Newhouse School; and Dr. Erika Schneider, assistant professor of public relations at Syracuse University's Newhouse School. McCluskey shared her experiences partnering with CEA CAPA and the SUNY Oswego Office of International Education and Programs to lead successful programs on Travel and Tourism Public Relations in Florence (2023) and Barcelona (2024). McCluskey also served as a panelist at the annual Eastern Communication Association (ECA) Convention in Buffalo last month. McCluskey joined faculty members from Michigan State, Ithaca, and Cornell to discuss corporate social responsibility, corporate social advocacy, community relations, and nonprofit communication on the panel: “Social Impact and Nonprofit Communications: Broadening the Curriculum.”

Tatienna Samuels in the EOP office

Sophomore public relations major Tatienna Samuels is one of nine inaugural students taking part in a new SUNY Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) career development fellowship. The new program provides Samuels with a paid placement with Oswego Health’s communications department, and includes looking for opportunities to tell the organization’s story while learning about tactics and techniques. Read full story.

Damian Schofield, director of the university’s human-computer interaction (HCI) program, had several publications with students/alumni of the HCI program. They included:

  • With co-authors Pezhman Raeisian Parvari as well as Jolanda Tromp and Chung Văn Lê from Duy Tan University in Vietnam, a book chapter titled “Confident Talk: AI and VR-Powered Speech Support for Enhancing Communication in Individuals with ADHD” in “Advances in Information and Communication,” part of “Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems,” published by Springer.
  • With co-author Johnathon Hall, “The Value of Creativity: Human Produced Art vs. AI-Generated Art” in Art and Design Review
  • With co-author Vincent Preikstas, “Exploring Fitts’ Law in Virtual Reality” in the International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering”
  • With co-author Molly Scott, "The Impact of Album Layout on User Experience in Smartphone Music Applications" in the International Journal of Multimedia and Its Applications 
  • With co-author Parvari, “Dementia Therapy: The Role of Gamified AI and Digital Art in Supporting Cognitive and Emotional Well-being” in Procedia Computer Science

Counseling and Psychological Services faculty member Michelle Storie’s outstanding contributions to the field recently earned recognition through the Early Career Faculty Award from the national Trainers of School Psychologists (TSP) organization. TSP’s goal is to encourage innovation and excellence in graduate training programs for specialist and doctoral school psychologists and to foster high-quality training in school psychology programs. At the TSP conference at Seattle University, At the TSP conference, Storie (above, right) presented “Igniting Change: Incorporating Science of Reading into Your  Graduate Training Program,” which addresses how school psychology graduate programs can better train students to implement stronger reading practices. Three of Storie’s students –- Marcus P. Lombardo (above, left), Victoria L. Perez and Nocyia B. Logan –- presented “Mentorship Matters: Empowering and Retaining Graduate Students” at NASP, showing how Oswego leads the way with best practices and outcomes in developing peer mentorship programs. Read full story.

University Police's Scott Swayze was one of 15 featured presenters at the 2025 Court Safety & Security Conference in Appleton, Wisconsin, hosted by the National Criminal Justice Training Center.  He resented at two of the conference sessions on the effective use of access control system data in internal investigations.

English and creative writing faculty member Erik Wade is an advisory board member and initial contributor to Public Humanities, a major new international journal recently launched from Cambridge University Press. An open-access journal, Public Humanities features a range of stories spanning the humanities, including “King Alfred and the Opening of the Medieval Mind: A Cautionary Tale” in the inaugural edition. Read full story.