Applications Now Open for the Summer Collaborative Research Grants (fka Provost’s Initiative Awards); Spring 2026 Recipients Announced

January 16, 2026

The Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement is pleased to announce recipients of the Spring 2026 Collaborative Research Grants (formerly known as Provost’s Initiative for Undergraduate Research Awards). These faculty members have been selected to collaborate with and mentor undergraduates on a co-designed research experience during the 2026 spring semester:

Beth Dufault, Business, Healthcare Policy by Complaint: Patient Experience, Policy Incentives, and the Paradox of Customer Satisfaction with Marijose Calderon Ruiz, Danica Dabatos, Brianna Topper
Corey Pressman, IHW: Measuring What Matters: A Student-Led Study of Tools for Assessing Stress, Vitality, and Emotional Well-Being in Public Health Research with Abby Fischer, Ethan Zettler-Bray, Isabel Garcia
Jordy Wolfand, Engineering: Evaluating Stormwater Policy Implications for Infill Development in Denver, CO with Micaiah Page

Applications for Summer 2026 Collaborative Research Grants are available now on Pilots. Applications for Summer 2026 are due February 15th by midnight.

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Nick McRee, Sociology and Social Work, published “Academic debate and civic engagement in adolescence and young adulthood: evidence from a national longitudinal study.” Argumentation and Advocacy, 61(3–4), 323–338. He also published “When Chairs Shield Faculty from Service Opportunities: Protecting Colleagues or Hindering Community?” The Department Chair, 36(3), 11-13.

Katie Danielson, Education, was awarded a grant from The Spencer Foundation in the amount of $374,940.00 for the “Collaborating Towards Transformational Visions for Digital School Systems” project. Danielson also published “Learning to let go: Transformations in teachers’ pedagogical reasoning about classroom discussion.” Co-authors: Gotwalt, E., Kavanagh, S. Teaching and Teacher Education. January 2026

Daniel Bulek, Nursing & Health Innovations, published “From monoamine deficits to multiscale plasticity: Twenty-five years of ketamine and the neurophysiology of depression.” Journal of Neurophysiology, jn.00516.2025.

Dave Houglum, Director of Leadership Studies and Leadership Professor of Practice in the Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, facilitated a multi-day series of invited leadership development workshops for the staff team at Lutherhaven Ministries in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Houglum led six interactive sessions focused on DiSC-informed leadership, coaching-centered leadership, servant leadership and accompaniment, powerful feedback, and the co-creation of team commitments to support healthy culture and sustainable impact. In addition, Houglum provided multiple individual leadership coaching sessions for staff members throughout the engagement. January 2026.

Simon Aihiokhai, Theology, published the following articles in VoiceAfrique.org: “The Saturated Wisdom of Saint Joseph: Relevant Virtues for Our Times.” (Reflections on the Readings of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2025). December 19, 2025. “The Gift of the Nativity is Grounded in an Ethics of Neighborliness.” (Reflections on the Readings for the Mass on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025). December 24, 2025. “The Spirituality of Ambition and the Grace of the Incarnation.” Reflections on the Readings for the Vigil Mass of Christmas, 2025. December 24, 2025. “The Theotokos: A Mirror in Which We Discover Ourselves as Bearers of God’s Life to Each Other.” (Reflection on the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.) December 31, 2025. “Jesus Christ: The Revealer of the Grace of Encounters and an Embrace of Difference.” (Reflections on the Readings for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. January 4, 2026.) January 3, 2026. “Christian Baptism as a Summon for Global Justice: What We Must Embrace for Our Times.” (Reflections on the Readings for the Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord. January 11, 2026.) January 10, 2026. Aihiokhai also published a review of The Cross and the Olive Tree: Cultivating Palestinian Theology Amid Gaza. Edited by John S. Munayer and Samuel S. Munayer. Orbis Books, 2025. Catholicbooksreview.org

Jeff Kerssen-Griep, Communication and Media, presented “Teaching with Transformative International Conflict Partners” on the panel, “Healing Divides and Elevating Connections within Conflict & Peacebuilding.” National Communication Association Convention. November, 2025.

Christi Richardson-Zboralski, Director of Marketing – Graduate Programs, published a short story under pen name, Christi R. Suzanne, entitled “Outlaw’s Dust.” In Lisa Diane Kastner (Ed.) 27 Stories: An LA Wildfire Anthology. Running Wild Press. January 7, 2026. All proceeds from this anthology go toward Habitat for Humanity LA. Find it on the Broadway Books website or on Bookshop.org.

Fr. Pat Hannon, CSC, published From Glory to Glory: A Pilgrim’s Notes From the Badlands of Grace. Occasioned by the author’s walking, with siblings, the famous Camino de Santiago in the fall of 2024, the book traces all manner of other pilgrimages—to and from home, family, love, self, and God. One Subject Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota. November, 2025.