Featured Awards – September 2018

Jessica Bacon • Early Childhood, Elementary and Literacy Education
Susan Baglieri • Secondary and Special Education
Increasing Access to College Project
Kessler Foundation
$10,000
The Increasing Access to College (IAC) project, led by Dr. Jessica Bacon and Dr. Susan Baglieri, seeks to increase disability diversity of Montclair State University, with particular attention to those with intellectual or developmental disability (IDD). The IAC will continue to recruit a demographically diverse population striving to mirror the diversity of the campus. Grant funding will enable IAC to continue providing access to a college transition experience at low or no cost to participants so that Social Economic Status is not a barrier to participating in IAC programs.

Katrina Bulkley • Counseling and Educational Leadership
School Choice Policy Research Center: A National Research Partnership to Improve School Choice for Disadvantaged Students
Institute of Education Sciences
$38,817
Dr. Katrina Bulkley will serve as a subrecipient of Tulane University to work on instrument development including the survey, coding strategy for charter school applications, and interview protocols for this project. She will also collect data in Washington D.C. and Florida, analyze qualitative data gathered through interviews and charter school applications, and write research products connected to analysis. Dr. Bulkley will also supervise a Montclair State University student to assist her with this work.

Gerard Costa • Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health
FY19 Socio-Emotional Formation Initiative (SEFI)
New Jersey Department of Human Services
$850,000
The Socio-Emotional Formation Initiative (SEFI) supports the statewide integration of professional development opportunities aimed at promoting the social and emotional well-being and inclusion of all infants, toddlers and young children with and without developmental, emotional and behavioral difficulties. SEFI, a grant-supported program of the Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health at Montclair State University, approaches this work through the full continuum of promotion, prevention and intervention efforts.

Jason Dickinson • Robert D. McCormick Center for Child Advocacy and Policy
Post BA Certificate in Adolescent Advocacy – 2018-2019
New Jersey Department of Children and Families
$246,238
For the year of 2018 – 2019, the program, which was the result of a collaboration between Montclair State University and the Department of Children and Families (DCF), has been designed to provide Child Protection and Permanency workers (CP&P) (Formerly The Division of Youth and Family Services DYFS) and DCF workers who wish to further their expertise in working with adolescents in the public welfare system with a multidisciplinary understanding of the role of the child advocate as seen through the disciplines of law, psychology, and social work among others. Students gain the necessary knowledge and skills to work effectively with the adolescent population.

Eden Kyse • Center for Research and Evaluation on Education and Human Services
Action, Plan, Research and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance
$122,200
The NJ Department of Law and Public Safety (DLPS) received a federal grant to develop an Integrated Drug Awareness Dashboard (IDAD), synthesizing previously separate datasets from multiple state agencies (e.g., NJ State Police, NJ Prescription Drug Monitoring Program). The aim of this centralized data-sharing “dashboard” is to create a clearer picture of the opioid epidemic across the state, inform targeted interventions, and develop analytic opioid “hot spot” data. Dr. Kyse and the team at CREEHS serve as program evaluator and action research partner to the project, collecting data from IDAD stakeholders to inform continuous improvement of the dashboard.

Bryan Murdock • Center for Community Engagement
Krystal Woolston • Center for Community Engagement
City of Orange Proposal to the U.S. Department of Education: University Assisted Full Service Community Schools Program – Year 5
U.S. Department of Education
$497,598
In year five of this grant, this program will allow the University to work closely with the Orange Public School District to convert two low-performing Title I schools into University-Assisted Full-Service Community Schools.

Jennifer Robinson • Center of Pedagogy
Newark Montclair Urban Teacher Residency – Year 5
U.S. Department of Education
$1,206,213
For the fifth year of support from the U.S. Department of Education, this program, in partnership with the Newark Public Schools (NPS), seeks to improve student achievement by applying rigorous research-based teacher preparation to the concrete needs of the NPS. The Newark Montclair Urban Teacher Residency is designed to recruit talented individuals, including those from underrepresented groups and other careers, into teaching math, science, and early childhood special education. The NMUTR also increases teacher quality and retention, which ultimately improves student achievement.

Alexander Sperling • Campus Recreation
Outdoor Nation Northeast Campus Clubs
Outdoor Foundation and the National Park Service
$1,800
The Outdoor Nation Northeast Campus Clubs program engages colleges and universities over the course of a full academic year – building a strong connection between campus communities, outdoor recreation and the National Park Service. Montclair State plans to go to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area for the National Park trip and will assist Essex County Environmental Center for their Earth Day celebration for the community partner outdoor outing.  Montclair State will also volunteer to maintain trails and clean up surrounding areas at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge for the stewardship project.

Jedidiah Wheeler • Arts and Cultural Programming
General Programming Support FY2018
New Jersey State Council on the Arts
$54,464
Continued funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) will help to support Peak Performances’ mission to provide unique theatrical experiences that foster both creativity and learning for on-campus and community audiences. In addition, NJSCA also recognized Montclair State’s Arts and Cultural Programming for Artistic Excellence as well as designated it as a Major Cultural Institution in New Jersey.

Meiyin Wu • Passaic River Institute
Stopping Trash Where it Starts
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
$10,000
Dr. Meiyin Wu and her team will assist Hudson River Foundation in the survey site selection process, download GIS map data for the study area, randomly select potential study sites using GIS, apply site selection criteria, add additional survey sites selected by community groups/HEP, and create a GIS map listing all final survey sites.  This study aims to include a total of twenty survey sites. Montclair State University will also perform a one day training to community group members.  The training will include a morning class room component and an afternoon field demonstration/practice. Montclair State will also serve as a go-to place for any follow-up questions from participants in regrading to survey protocol and data upload.