Where in the World is Indiana University of Pennsylvania? OUT IN FRONT!

Grant and contract activity at IUP has tripled during the past 10 years. In fiscal 2004-2005, grant activity totaled $18,551,801. This amount represents increased funding of $4,697,965, or 33.91 percent over 2003-2004. The ratio of grants awarded to proposals submitted was 63.87 percent. In 2003-04 the success rate of awarded proposals (a total of 221 were awarded) was 58 percent, showing an improvement of 5.6 percent in 2004-2005.

Major sponsors of IUP grants include the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Council for Geographic Education, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Security Administration, the National Environmental and Educational Training Center, Inc., the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the Pennsylvania Departments of Education, Community and Economic Development, and Transportation.

In fiscal 2003-2004, IUP's research awards totaled more than $13.2 million. In fiscal 2002-03, IUP's research awards totaled nearly $12.8 million. During fiscal 2000-2001, faculty and staff were successful in securing almost $11.2 million in external funding.

IUP received a $250,000 Upward Bound Math and Science grant through the U.S. Department of Education in September 2007. IUP has the opportunity for $1.25 million in continued funding for this program over the next five years. Only five programs were awarded to Pennsylvania institutions, and only approximately 130 programs are funded nationally. The Upward Bound Math and Science programs are designed to strengthen the math and science skills of high school students and to encourage them to pursue postsecondary education programs that lead to careers in these fields. Specifically, students at Marion Center, Penns Manor, Purchase Line, and United junior and senior high schools are targeted for the program, but students attending any high school in Indiana County are potentially eligible.Through the program, 50 participants are recruited annually and required to participate in a variety of academic activities throughout the academic year and over the summer at IUP. Activities include participation in intensive instruction taught by IUP faculty in mathematics and science during the six-week summer research institute.The grant program proposal was developed by Hilary Staples, assistant director of IUP’s McNair Program, and Dr. Calvin Masilela, director, IUP McNair Scholars Program, and Professor of Geography and Regional Planning.

A team of IUP faculty members in the anthropology, history, geography and geoscience departments was awarded a National Science Foundation grant of $297,684 to purchase advanced geospatial and geophysical equipment to create a Mobile Spatial Data Acquisition Lab. The IUP team was led by Dr. Beverly Chiarulli (anthropology), and included co-principal investigators Dr. R. Scott Moore (history), Dr. John Benhart (geography), Dr. Francis Allard (anthropology), Dr. John Lewis (geoscience), and senior researchers Dr. Sarah Neusius and Dr. Victor Garcia (both of the anthropology department).The grant will be used to purchase a GSSI Sir System 3000 Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), a Syscal Pro Electrical Resistivity Meter, a Bartingdon Magnetic Susceptibility system including a survey probe and meter, a Geoscan Research RM 15multiplex unit, a Geoscan Research FM 256 magnetic gradiometer, a set of 6 Trimble Geo XH Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and a Trimble GPS Base Station and support equipment.

A team of IUP science faculty members have received a grant for $369,000 from the National Science Foundation to purchase a Quantum Design Physical Properties Measurement System. The IUP team, led by Dr. Gregory G Kenning, physics, will use the system to determine and characterize properties of materials. The instrument will serve a wide range of research and educational projects and will be used by students as well as used to satisfy a regional need for other local universities and corporations in Western Pennsylvania.

In July 2007, IUP was targeted to receive $1 million in funding through the 2007-2008 House of Representatives Department of Defense Appropriations Bill to fund research directed by IUP professor of biology Dr. Narayanaswamy Bharathan. Dr. Bharathan's research is intended to develop a rapid screening and detection system of multiple bio-threat agents for the Department of Defense and other federal, and state emergency responders. Dr. Bharathan, a molecular biology specialist, is a member of the IUP Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) project team.

In July 2007, IUP received $650,000 in funding through a supplemental report to the House Energy and Water Appropriations Bill to fund ongoing research by Dr. Keith Kyler, IUP chemistry professor, related to the conversion of waste biomass into biodegradable plastics and bioethanol.

The John P. Murtha Institute for Homeland Security has received a $100,000 grant from the Allegheny Foundation of Pittsburgh. The grant award, presented in January 2007, will be used to support the current and future research efforts of the Murtha Institute and the University. Research projects to be funded by the Allegheny Foundation grant include a ”Proactive Intelligence Project” and the “Protecting Public Spaces Project.”

The Alcoa Foundation awarded $100,000 to the Foundation for Indiana University of Pennsylvania in January 2007 to support a national forum on fatality prevention in the workplace, hosted by IUP’s Safety Sciences Department.The two-day forum, scheduled to take Nov. 1 and 2, 2007, will focus on causes of workplace fatalities, identify best practices and solutions for preventing fatalities and determine areas of future safety research that would drive significant safety improvement in the workplace.

Two IUP faculty members have been selected by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to receive 2007 Individual Creative Artists Fellowships. Fuyuko Matsubara, art, was selected for a crafts fellowship, and Anthony Farrington, English, will receive a fellowship in literature (fiction). They are two of only 68 artists representing 22 counties in Pennsylvania selected for these competitive fellowships.

Dr. David Yerger and Dr. Jack Julian (economics) received a grant in spring 2006 from The Center for Rural Pennsylvania to study problems in rural Pennsylvania, including research on the status of unemployment and underemployment in rural counties. The professors will examine the causal links between self-reported underemployment and a variety of socio-economic variables. It is hoped that the rules of the study should increase an understanding of changing worklife in Pennsylvania.

An IUP doctoral student interested in the benefit of water aerobics to psychological health has received a $3,700 grant allowing her to turn her interests into a valuable research project. Jamie Brass, a third year student in the clinical psychology doctoral program, received the grant to conduct research for her dissertation project, “The Psychological Benefits of Water Aerobics in Fibromyalgia Patients.” Brass has had the opportunity to watch fellow students work with patients suffering from chronic pain and fibromyalgia at the Center for Applied Psychology. She has also had the opportunity to teach water aerobics for two years at IUP. The combination of these experiences led to Brass’s interest and research.

IUP is engaged in a statewide initiative aimed to improve the quality of math and science education in public high schools. The Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation in Pennsylvania (CETP-PA), which is based at IUP and serves all the universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation in fall 2005 to continue to fund the scholarship and stipend program. The grant, in conjunction with a $200,000 grant from the State System of Higher Education, is used to provide about 25 scholarships per semester to students looking to become math and science educators. The Robert Noyce Scholarship Program grants scholarships and stipends to IUP and Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education students in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics who show a commitment to completing teacher certification.

Dr. Erick Lauber (communications media) and Dan Yuhas (Technology Services Center) received a $25,000 grant in fall 2005 to help local school districts teach with new technologies from the U.S. Department of Education to create interactive training modules that will instruct local school teachers on the use of 12 available, digital technologies for the classroom. The modules will be sent via Internet to teachers at Purchase Line, Blairsville-Saltsburg and United school districts, with hopes that the technologies described will be implemented in their curricula.

IUP, along with Indiana Regional Medical Center, Indiana County Children and Youth, Indiana County District Attorney, Pennsylvania State Police, Alice Paul House, and Indiana Community Guidance Center have joined together to make interviewing experiences for abused children much less intimidating and time-consuming. Indiana will soon be home to a Children’s Advocacy Center, part of a growing number of centers established nationwide. Dr. Kathryn Bonach, IUP sociology professor, and Ann Sedlemeyer, executive director within Indiana Regional Medical Center, submitted two federal grant proposals for program development and training from the National Children’s Alliance in September 2004 and received both grants in December 2004. The center is designed to coordinate investigation and intervention services by bringing together professionals and agencies as a multidisciplinary team to create a child-focused approach to child abuse cases. The goal is to ensure that children are not re-traumatized by the very system that was designed to protect them. Individuals representing law enforcement, prosecution, child protective services, the courts, mental and medical health, victim services, education, and social services work cooperatively to improve the investigation, treatment, and prevention of child abuse and neglect.

The IUP McNair Scholars Program at IUP has been approved by the U.S. Department of Education for the second year in a row. Second year funding (for 2005) in the amount of $220,000 will support 20 scholars with research stipends, conference travel and other activities.

In fall 2004, IUP received a grant of $199,000 from the Department of Justice to develop a comprehensive program called "The Haven Project" to address the needs of women who are victims of violence and to improve its efforts to prevent violence. The Haven Project is a partnership of IUP’s Office of Heath AWAREness in the Center for Student Life, IUP University Police, Indiana Borough Police, and the Alice Paul House. The project will improve services for female students who are victims of violence by expanding on-campus counseling services. In addition, the project will expand victim-intervention services and advocacy through the Alice Paul House. The project will also improve campus criminal investigation and adjudication processes. Malinda Cowles, associate director of IUP’s Center for Student Life, will direct The Haven Project.

Between 1985 and fall 2004, IUP’s nursing and allied health department has offered graduate-level scholarships through more than $354,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Individuals enrolled in IUP’s master’s programs in nursing, nursing administration, and nursing education are eligible. In 2004, more than $23,000 in scholarships was awarded. Depending on the availability of funds, the scholarships cover tuition, books, and a small stipend. “It is projected that the nursing shortage will reach a crisis stage, as more than 800,000 nursing vacancies are expected by the year 2020,” said Dr. Nashat Zuraikat, nursing professor. “In an effort to help recruit more nurses, the department is using the grant funds to enhance enrollment in the graduate program. These graduate students, prepared as nursing administrators or nurse educators, will play key leadership roles as they help devise strategies to alleviate the nursing shortage.” In 2003-2004, 39 scholarships were awarded. All full-time students with at least a 3.0 GPA are eligible to apply.

Dr. John Cavendish has been named executive director of the IUP Reseach Institute. The IUP Research Institute is an independent, non-profit corporation affiliated with IUP that promotes the development, implementation and coordination of externally funded research grants and contracts at the university. The institute was formed to improve communications, streamline operations, enhance research support, and provide assistance to faculty and administrators that serve as principal investigators on grants and contracts.

IUP’s computer science department received an $88,445 information security equipment grant from Cisco Systems in fall 2003.The equipment grant, which includes 10 Cisco firewalls and 10 Cisco routers, has been used to enhance IUP’s existing network security lab. This lab will help students gain hands-on experience in securing complex networks with a variety of configurations. The computer science department plans to develop red team competitions between 36 information assurance centers to stimulate interest and enthusiasm among undergraduate students and to attract them to pursue graduate study in the discipline.

Dr. Robert Begg, Geography and Regional Planning, is the recipient of a $21,763 National Science Foundation grant for “Reconfiguring Economies, Communities and Regions in Post-Socialist Europe: A Study of the Apparel Industry.” The three-year project, in its final year in October 2003, looks closely at the dynamics involved in the transformation of a commanded economy to a capitalist economy.

IUP is the 2003 recipient of a grant from the U.S. Department of Education under the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. IUP will receive a total of $800,000 for the project; $209,258 for the first year of the grant, which will run for a total of four years. The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program is awarded to higher educational facilities and caters to students from disadvantaged backgrounds preparing them for doctoral studies in research and other fields. The program works closely with the student from undergrad through doctorate programs. IUP's McNair project will target 20 low-income, first-generation college students and those from underrepresented groups who have demonstrated strong academic potential for preparation in acquiring requisite skills needed for entry into graduate study and eventually earning a doctoral degree.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Geography and Regional Planning Department and Spatial Science Research Center are helping the National Park Service to conduct a study of the historic and cultural significance of the Lincoln Highway, the 3,500-mile thoroughfare laid out from New York City to San Francisco as America’s first transcontinental automobile road. First envisioned in a 1999 House Report to the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, the project is an opportunity for IUP to take part in a study of national scope, and the Lincoln Highway may be the longest cultural resource the NPS has ever studied. Dr. Kevin Patrick, professor of geography and regional planning, is the primary consultant for the project.

IUP will extend its focus on entrepreneurial programs even further as the recipient of a 2003 $50,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The funds, joining The Eberly College of Business and Information Technology with the IUP College of Fine Arts, will be used to develop an entrepreneurship minor for fine arts students as well as an online certificate program for small business owners.

In October 2002, U.S. Rep. John Murtha secured a $6.7 million appropriation to the Department of Defense for IUP to support IUP’s environmental and national homeland security initiatives. IUP has a series of programs already funded and underway that support the area of domestic preparedness, designed to improve the nation’s ability to respond to disasters and major emergencies. These programs are centered in the University’s new Institute for Homeland Security Training, established in fall 2002.This recent funding, on the heels of $3.4 million from Rep. Murtha received in summer 2002, brings the total funding for these initiatives at IUP to more than $10 million to date. The Institute for Homeland Security Training provides an umbrella organization to pull together existing programs in domestic preparedness and weapons of mass destruction, emergency response, cybersecurity, education, environmental training and cryptologic education and instructional design.

IUP is home of the National Institute for Correctional Education (NICE), a $1 million program established in fall 2002 to support and serve correctional educators in their efforts to create positive and effective learning environments for incarcerated learners. The nationally funded program will serve as an international model for systematically examining the difficulties faced in correctional education. The program is jointly funded by a $600,000 grant from United States Department of Education and a $400,000 grant from the federal Department of Justice.

Geology professor Dr. John Taylor and his colleagues began in 1999 to unravel the chronological ages represented by the Conococheague Formation, a 2000-foot-thick package of rock in the central Appalachians, scientists were unaware of the many secrets it held. Now Taylor, awarded a $50,000 grant in fall 2002 from the Petroleum Research Fund to study the fossils of the Conococheague, has found it a possible key for reconstructing the history of sea level rises and falls during the late part of the Cambrian Period roughly 500 million years ago.

In fall 2002, Dr. N. Bharathan, professor of biology, successfully secured an $8,000 competitive grant from the National Science Foundation to develop and deliver a hands-on workshop called “Biotechnology in a Box” for pre-service teachers and teachers in Pennsylvania. IUP was one of 16 applicants for the grant. The workshop specifically addresses some of the state standards for biology, and includes work in advanced techniques in modern biotechnology through hands-on inquiry. A second workshop in spring 2003 is planned.

In May 2002, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development awarded a total of $400,000 to several Pittsburgh-area projects designed to convince young people to stay in Pennsylvania, including $115,000 to IUP's Eberly College of Business and Information Technology for improved and expanded internships in information technology. The grants comprise a portion of $4.1 million in funding announced May 30 to fund 78 "Stay Invent the Future" challenge-grant projects across the state. The projects are designed to complement and support regional strategies to retain young people and enhance competitiveness by strengthening industry clusters, work force capabilities, educational institutions, anchor firms and lifestyle opportunities.

IUP is part of a $160,000 project funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Education Technology to help fund an introductory workshop on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Pennsylvania’s public school teachers. Dr. John Benhart, professor in the department of geography and regional planning at IUP, participated as an instructor and facilitator at Shippensburg University, where the workshop was held in July 2002. The workshop explored ways for teachers to use the GIS as an interdisciplinary tool in the classroom.

A May 2002 $134,324 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education will be used to build a state-of-the-art observation lab for the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. With the addition of this lab, IUP will be the only site in the nation to use this type of technology, with plans to "go national" with on-line instruction connected to the project.

IUP Nursing and Allied Health professor Dr. Teresa Shellenbarger is one of 10 professors in the nation selected for a 2002 "Learn and Serve" grant from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, The University of Pittsburgh and the Corporation for National Service Learning. Dr. Shellenbarger was selected for the $8,000 grant in recognition of demonstrated innovative methods of teaching and learning that integrate community service activities into academic curricula. She will use the grant funds to enhance her synthesis course "Aging in America," a course she has taught at IUP for the last two years.

Dennis Hawley, a student in IUP's master's program in biology, won the 2002 National Environmental Health Association Student Research Award to present a paper at the NEHA Annual Education Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His faculty mentor is Dr. Thomas Simmons, biology professor. Hawley's research is supported by a National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award Grant.

Dr. Jennifer Johnson Roberts, a professor of criminology at IUP, has received more than $50,000 in grant money from the National Consortium on Violence Research at Carnegie Mellon University to research her project, "Violent Events in the Context of Individual Lives." Roberts, who is working alongside of Dr. Edward Mulvey at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, will examine the usefulness of the life-events calendar in order to assist memory. A life-events calendar is a method of reconstructing a person’s life over a long period of time.

Dr. Diane Klein, Special Education and Clinical Services, has been selected to serve as one of five regional coordinators for a $2.1 million federally funded program. The program, "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology," was awarded to the Association of College Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The purpose of the grant is to support efforts by teacher preparation programs in providing ways in which prospective kindergarten through grade 12 teachers develop skills in using modern learning technologies for the field of education. The Association is a national organization for faculty in 72 teacher preparation programs that train teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing across the United States. The grant will allow these faculty to network together to determine best practices for infusing technology into curriculum, for creating technologically enhanced products to use, and to demonstrate and give future teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing hands-on experience in the implementation of software and multimedia tools. Only 12 of these teacher preparation grants were awarded nationally—this one being the only one awarded to an organization.

IUP was awarded $174,404 from the State System of Higher Education's Venture Capital Program to develop two-year Associate degrees in Electro-Optics in Armstrong County. This is in conjunction with an effort by the Armstrong County commissioners and the U.S. Navy to attract electro-optics industry into the area.

In Fall 2000, IUP's Eberly College of Business and Information Technology was awarded $250,000 from the State System of Higher Education's Venture Capital Program to develop a Master's Degree in Information Technology. This program, when approved, can be pursued by individuals with undergraduate non-technical degrees.

IUP received $234,000 from the Pennsylvania Technology Literacy Challenge Fund to partner with three area school districts to create "virtual communities" to assist in the development of educators in those districts. IUP will both develop the online community discussion groups as well as provide training for the participating teachers.

In July 2000, IUP received $122,789 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study the association of nitrate in drinking water with reproductive and development disorders. The principal investigator in the study is IUP biology professor Dr. Amadu D. Ayebo. Other faculty participants include Dr. Thomas Simmons, biology, and Dr. John Benhart, geography and regional planning. The faculty will include graduate and undergraduate students in this study, and also will work with Dr. Richard Bailey, a consulting family practice physician at Indiana Hospital. The study focuses on the rural community around Smicksburg and Dayton.

IUP has received a $410,000 grant from the state Link to Learn program. This grant will be administered by Dr. Wayne Moore, IUP Eberly College of Business and Information Technology, and co-directed by Karen Rivosecchi, vocational personnel preparation center. This project also has several community partners, including area school districts and the Pittsburgh Technology Council. This grant will be used to develop curriculum for students in K-12 in the partnering institutions in order to produce information technology graduates who possess the knowledge and skills that match the needs of Pennsylvania's employers.

IUP received two grants from the Governor's Institutes for Educators, totaling more than $250,000 to support summer residential professional development programs for educators throughout Pennsylvania. The programs will focus on professional development for educators in Family and Consumer Science and for educators in the social studies. IUP is one of the only institutions in the nation to provide a major in Family and Consumer Sciences.

IUP was awarded $250,000 from the State System of Higher Education's Venture Capital Program to develop a master's of science degree program in information technology. The program was established to encourage the creation or expansion of programs designed specifically to address the state's work force needs.

IUP and Saint Vincent College (Erie, PA) collaborated on a special program to offer professional development of science teachers at the Millcreek Township School District (Millcreek, PA) in grades 4 to 6. This program was funded with a $25,000 grant from the Community Partners for Agile Education. Led by IUP and Saint Vincent professors, teachers will use NASA data from the internet to develop classroom lessons in astronomy and physical geology. Field tests of the lessons will take place with elementary students and their teachers at Saint Vincent's planetarium.

The IUP Teacher Education Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology received a $112,000 grant from the Community Partners for Agile Education program to offer enhancements to teacher education programs at 60 Pennsylvania colleges and universities. IUP's Center will offer NASA research in a variety of workshops and programs to education majors at these participating schools to develop curricular applications for K-12 science and mathematics education. IUP geoscience professor Connie Sutton is coordinator of the project.

IUP is a partner in a $50,000 grant awarded through the Community for Agile Partners in Education in January 2001 to teach teachers kindergarten through 12 how to integrate technology into the classroom.

Dr. Stuart Chandler, Philosophy and Religious Studies department and faculty advisor for the Committee for the Study of Culture and Religion, has received a $5,000 grant from the Pluralism Project of Harvard University to study the evolving religious landscape of Western Pennsylvania. "Pennsylvania has welcomed religious diversity ever since its founding under William Penn," explained Chandler. Preliminary research shows that in addition to hundreds of Christian churches and dozens of Jewish synagogues, western Pennsylvania is home to no fewer than 14 Buddhist meditation groups, 13 mosques, half a dozen Hindu temples and one Sikh gurdwara. Chandler designed the project to learn more about these organizations and the experiences of the people who worship in them. To this end, he is leading IUP students in undertaking fieldwork at the various sites.

The National Institute of Justice has awarded Dr. Edward Gondolf of IUP’s Mid-Atlantic Training Institute $356,321 for his grant, "Culturally-Focused Batterer Counseling for African-American Men." Through this grant, Dr. Gondolf plans to test the effectiveness of culturally focused batterer counseling for African-American men as compared to conventional batterer counseling. Program evaluations show that African-American men are more likely to dropout of conventional batterer counseling and re-assault their partners, Gondolf said. As a result, recent recommendations are for cultural focus in order to improve the effectiveness of counseling within this population.

IUP received a $50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an Analytical Sciences Digital Library. IUP’s grant is part of a $485,000 total program given to the University of Kansas, the University of Central Arkansas, the University of North Florida and IUP to develop the library. The four chosen universities will develop a database of information on analytical or measurement sciences, which will aid teachers and students in finding methods of measuring various amounts and identities of chemical substances. The database will operate with approximately 100,000 entries, covering all sciences, for students from kindergarten to college undergraduates. IUP professor of chemistry Dr. George Long is in charge of IUP’s investigation.

A federal grant issued to IUP is helping students who are also parents achieve their academic and career goals. The program, IUP Childcare Access Means Parents in School Program, which began in August 1999, assists low-income student-parents by helping them find and pay for quality day care programs. The program is meant to give the parents not only time to go to class, but also time to study, research, network and to work on class projects. IUP students who are majoring in early childhood education provide educational support through biannual parenting seminars. Topics at these seminars include home safety, importance of play, recognizing and celebrating milestones, family roots and rituals and literacy. Annually, the grant has made it possible for 37 student-parents (40 children) to attend school full-time.

IUP secured a $2,000 grant from the Howard Heinz Endowment to exhibit New Works/New Europe, featuring the work of several leading-edge European artists, at two Pittsburgh sites in conjunction with the 19th International Sculpture Competition in Pittsburgh in 2001. The exhibit was originally shown at the University Museum in Fall 2000.

The family of Eli Rock, a major, national figure in American labor arbitration from the "founding" generation of War Labor Board arbitrators, have donated his collected professional papers to IUP's special collections archives. The Eli Rock Collection covers a span of over 50 years, the entire scope of Rock's professional life beginning with his War Labor Board Service (1942-44) and includes thousands of arbitration decisions and case files (1953-95), correspondence (1960-95), articles, lecture notes, speeches, interviews, books, awards and memorabilia.

In December 1999, IUP received $3 million from the state to design the University’s Regional Development Complex and a state pledge of a $20 million match to the University’s private fundraising efforts for the facility.