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Faculty Development Grants
Background
In 2013 the Retirees Association Board established a Faculty Development Grant award program to recognize the research and scholarly activity of probationary faculty. Only non-tenured assistant professors are eligible for consideration to receive this award. Two awards of $1000, are given each spring semester to assist recipients in continuing their research.
Nomination Process
Deans are invited to consult with appropriate department chairs and nominate up to two probationary faculty from their college. The dean submits a confidential nomination, not exceeding two double spaced pages, presenting evidence of scholarly activity, research or creative/artistic endeavors. Nominations are due in March.
Selection Process
The Probationary Faculty Scholarship Committee, consisting of three or five members is appointed by the Board from the Association’s membership. Nominations from deans are submitted to the committee chair. After the committee has reviewed candidates the chair forwards the committee’s decision to the Association President.
Presenting Awards
Awardees learn of their selection when a small entourage visits them in class, a department meeting, or other public setting to inform them they have been nominated and selected for a $1000 Faculty Development Grant. Usually the dean, department chair and Association President are present. Recipients are invited to the Association’s Spring Brunch.
2024 Recipients
For the 2023-24 Academic Year, Prof. Sheeva Sabati (Educational Leadership), Prof. Si Gao (Environmental Studies), and Prof. Evangeline Ballerini (Biological Sciences) were the probationary faculty who were selected to receive the annual Retirees Association Probationary Faculty Award.
Dr. Sheeva Sabati: Dr. Sabati is an Assistant Professor and the 
Graduate Coordinator in the Doctorate in Educational Leadership (EDD) Program at Sacramento State. Her teaching and research braids decolonial feminist, critical race, and women of color genealogies to reimagine education towards cultural-affirmation, healing, and social justice. Dr. Sabati is finishing her 3rd year at Sac State, and in this time has served on 13 doctoral student dissertation committees (6 as chair). She is proud to have been hired under the Campus Anti-Racism Initiative and to support campus and community efforts to expand educational equity in her hometown of Sacramento.
Dr. Si Gao: Dr. Gao joined the Department of Environmental Studies in the 
College of SSIS in the Fall of 2022. At Sacramento State, Dr. Gao teaches courses on environmental science, agroecology, and soil science and sustainability. Her research at Sacramento State endeavors to center on soil-based climate change solutions and their role in enhancing ecosystem resilience in forest and agricultural systems. Specifically, Dr. Gao partners closely with Sacramento’s local farms and urban agriculture initiatives to evaluate the effects of locally produced soil organic amendments on soil health and biogeochemical cycling. Beyond urban agriculture, her research also investigates the impact of fire and forest management practices on soil carbon and forest ecosystem resiliency. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, Dr. Gao’s research at Sacramento State aims to address critical environmental challenges and foster sustainable solutions.
Dr. Evangeline Ballerini: Dr. Evangeline (Anji) Ballerini joined the 
Department of Biological Sciences in 2019. In addition to her excellent classroom teaching, Dr. Ballerini involves her students in her research using genomic tools such as whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing to study the genetic basis of floral traits in both an evolutionary and developmental context. She works with both undergraduate and graduate students and maintains active collaborations with scientists at other universities. Dr. Ballerini has built a robust research program that she was able to maintain even with COVID challenges. She was recently awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology grant.
2024 Alan G. Wade Family Research Awardee: Dr. Francis Furio:The
Alan D. Wade Family Research Award is to encourage and recognize distinguished achievement in research and scholarly inquiry directed to the needs of poor, underserved, and vulnerable populations in the Sacramento region conducted by probationary faculty in the College of Health and Human Services. Dr. Frances Furio is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work. She is a forensic social worker who has practiced within correctional facilities (e.g., jails, prisons, state hospitals, youth facilities, etc.), to listen to and learn from the justice-impacted people with lived experience within these settings. Her work includes focused research and advocacy to develop a fuller understanding of how incarceration and legacies of oppression, based on race, ethnicity, sexuality, geography, class, etc., function as determinants of health and contribute to injustice. Her award will be used to continue her qualitative research on justice-impacted women.
2023 Recipients
For the 2023-23 Academic Year, Prof. Maria Quintana (History) and Prof. Hamid Motallebzadeh (Audiology) were the probationary faculty who were selected to receive the annual Retirees Association Probationary Faculty Award.
Dr. Maria L. Quintana is Assistan Professor of History
at Sacramento State University, where she teaches courses on race and empire, civil rights and labor history, immigration history, and Latinx history. She is the author of Contracting Freedom: Race, Empire, and U.S. Guestworker Programs (2022) and received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2016. Before moving to Sac State, she taught at San Francisco State University in the College of Ethnic Studies for three years. She was also a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University’s Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration.
Dr. Hamid Motallebzadeh is an assistant 
professor at Communications Science and Disorders Department. Before joining Sacramento State, he served as instructor and investigator at Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He also holds an adjunct professor position at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at McGill University. His work focuses on acoustics, hearing mechanics, and newborn hearing screening. Specifically, his research approaches include multi-physics and multi-scale biomechanics of auditory systems and artificial intelligence in medicine. His current research funded by NIH is on automating objective differential diagnoses of middle-ear pathologies by taking advantage of pattern-recognition and classification capabilities of machine learning to infer details about the middle-ear status from clinical data. The trained algorithm will allow for an objective and fast identification of conductive pathologies in individual ears to improve surgical specificity, minimize unnecessary exploratory surgery and imaging, and provide an objective clinical means of postoperative monitoring.
2023 Alan G. Wade Family Research Awardee Dr. Gwenaelle Begue
The Alan D. Wade Family Research Award is to encourage and
recognize distinguished achievement in research and scholarlyinquiry directed to the needs of poor, underserved, and vulnerablepopulations in the Sacramento region conducted byprobationary faculty in the College of Health and Human Services. Dr. Begue has been an Assistant Professor of Exercise Biology in the Department of Kinesiology since 2018. Her work, Homebased, Video Supervised Exercise for African American Older Adults with Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease will be conducted in Spring 2023. This is an ancillary study nested in a current National Institute of Health (NIH) funded exercise program in older adults with chronic kidney disease. The study tests the efficacy of a 12-weeks home-based, video-supervised exercise program with personal trainers on improving skeletal muscle function, physical function, and quality of life in high-risk African American older adults living with diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
2022 Recipients
For the 2021-22 Academic Year Prof. Sayonita Ghosh Hajra (Mathematics & Statistics) and Prof. Sargam Garg (Business Administration) were the probationary faculty who were selected to receive the annual Retirees Association Probationary Faculty Award.
Dr. Sayonita Ghosh Hajra joined the Department of Mathematics & Statistics in the College of Natural
Sciences & Mathematics as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2018. Immediately upon her arrival she distinguished herself as an outstanding teacher, scholar and member of the university community. Her student evaluations are exceptionally strong with comments such as, “WOW, I will forever remember this teacher and the impact she made on my learning.” In addition, she is an active researcher in both mathematics and math education working with students and colleagues at other universities. Dr. Ghosh Hajra has also been active in community outreach and was awarded the NSM Outstanding Faculty Award for Community Service for the 2021-22 academic year.
Dr. Sargam Garg was appointed as an Assistant Professor of
Management in the College of Business Administration in the Fall of 2017. She has received praise for her creative and effective teaching from both students and faculty. She also continues to be an active and impactful researcher in the area of Human Resources Management. Since her appointment she has received awards for both teaching and scholarly activity. Dr. Garg has also participated in effective service to all levels of the university community. She represents a well-rounded faculty member. Dean Cordeiro said in his letter of nomination, “Dr. Garg is an outstanding academic and researcher, able to balance her teaching service, and outstanding research.”
2021 Recipients
For the 2020-21 Academic Year Prof. Evren Eryilmaz (Business) and Prof. Scott Perkins (Arts & Letters) were the probationary faculty who were selected to receive the annual Retirees Association Probationary Faculty Award.
Below is a brief biography of each, followed by a link to a video where each recipient introduces themselves and talks about their work and research. Congratulations to Professors Eryilmaz and Perkins!
Dr. Evren Eryilmaz joined the College of Business as an Assistant Professor of Management
Information Systems in Fall 2017. Dr. Eryilmaz, according to Dean Cordeiro “has produced a consistent record of scholarship, with meaningful contributions in both the quality and quantity of research completed.” Dr. Eryilmaz’s classes rely heavily on experiential learning which provides students with hands-on experience while providing support to organizations in our community.
Dr. Scott Perkins was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Music in
Fall 2017. He has had important and substantial creative output, along with outstanding performance in the other areas of faculty responsibilty: teaching, contributions to the institution, and contributions to the community. According to Dean Meyer, Dr. Perkins “has engaged in transformative work that speaks to our college’s priorities of student success; diversity, equity and inclusion; and community engagement.” Dr. Perkins has published a number of highly praised choral works and revamped the entire curriculum in Music Theory and Musicianship.
2020 Recipients
This year there are three faculty grant recipients. Below is a brief biography of each, followed by a link to a video where each recipient introduces themselves and talks about their work and research. Congratulations to all!
Dr. Cristina Poindexter joined the Department of Civil Engineering as an Assistant Professor in
Fall 2015. Since that time, she has demonstrated her dedication to her students in the classroom and as colleagues in her research projects. Dr. Poindexter is currently developing improved models for predicting impact to the effects of global warming on human society from where we live, how food is grown, the quality of the air we breathe, and both the intensity and frequency of weather events. Her work allows for improved management of farmland, recreational spaces, industrial enterprises, residential zones, and military installations. Dr. Poindexter and her students are contributing to both the quality of all of our lives and our national security.
Dr. Rodolfo Barniol Duran is was appointed as an Assistant Professor in Physics and
Astronomy in Fall 2017. He teaches a wide variety of courses from lower division GE to upper division major courses, including the very popular Musical Acoustics course. Dr. Barniol Duran’s research is in the area of computational astrophysics, particularly in the nature of gamma ray bursts, which are powerful bursts of high energy photons of extremely short duration. These gamma ray bursts emit more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will emit in its entire 10-billion-year lifetime. He actively involves students in all aspects of his research program, which has been exceptionally productive. He has published many papers in journals and conferences, and in 2018 was awarded an NSF grant for this work.
Dr. Casey Knifsend was appointed to the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Department
of Psychology in Fall 2014. Her contributions are significant and she exemplifies the balance among, and excellence across, all areas of faculty responsibility: teaching, scholarship and service. She teaches a wide variety of courses, from lower division research methods to upper division and graduate courses in developmental psychology. Her students are central in all of her work, including in her scholarship. The focus of her scholarly work is positive development in adolescents and emerging adults. Her work includes longitudinal analyses of nationally representative data sets examining student engagement on the college campus and professor student interactions.
2019 Recipients
The 2019 recipients were honored at the Spring Brunch in the Alumni Center.
Dr. Richard Armstrong joined the Department of Civil Engineering in Fall 2015 as an assistant
professor, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of geotechnical earthquake engineering, dam engineering and computational mechanics. He graduated with Honors from the University of Manitoba, earned his MS from Stanford and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis.
Dr. Kimberly Mulligan was appointed as an Assistant Professor in
the Department of Biological Sciences in 2015. She earned her BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the University of California, San Diego and her Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from Stanford. She teaches a variety of core biology courses and labs from the introductory Cells, Molecules and Genes to the graduate level Development and Regenerative Medicine.
2018 Recipients
This year we had the most faculty nominated and the most colleges participating.
Dr. Austin joined the History Department in 2015. She specializes in African American History.
She has been active in the community with Sacramento County History Day and the Sacramento Public Library. She recently completed a book, I Know My Own Mind: Everyday New Negroes in the US Capitol, 1919-1942.
Dr. Miller-Schulze joined the Chemistry Department in 2014. He
received a National Science Foundation Grant for over $300,000 for the Chemistry Department. His research focuses on inentifying contaminants at very low concentrations, including lead in campus drinking water. He involvesstudents in his research.
2017 Recipients
This was the fourth year we awarded grants to junior faculty, this time to three recipients. Deans Orn Bodvarsson (Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies) and Fred Baldini (Health and HUman Services) Spoke hightly of their faculty awardees and continued the tradition of matching our grants with an additional $500 for each.
Dr. Heinicke is concluding her fourth year in Sac State’s Psychology Department. Her research
interests include brain injury rehabilitation and strategies for assisting children with developmental disabilities.
Dr. Martin is completing her third year as a professor in the
Government Department. Her areas of research include voter decision rules, proximity voting, and the usefulness of political fact-checking.
Dr. Hoffman is in her fifth year
of teaching in the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration. She has a long time professional interest in adaptive recreation and recreation therapy .
2016 Recipients
The Association's third year recipients were honored at the 2016 Spring Brunch in the Alumni Center. The deans of both recipients, Ed Inch (Arts and Letters) and Fred Baldini (Health and Human Services), matched our $500 grants. Professor Frankenbach was surprised with her selection in a Music faculty meeting while Professor MacLeod learned of his selection while teaching a physical therapy class.
Dr. Frankenbach joined the School of Music 
as an assistant professor in 2013. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UC Irvine, she earned her masters and doctorate at UC Davis. In his recommendation Dean Inch noted her excellent teaching and her leadership in developing student faculty research projects.
Dr. MacLeod was appointed as an assistant professor in the
Physical Therapy Department in 2014. He earned an MS in Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics and an MPT from Sacramento State; his doctorate is from the University of Delaware. He teaches evidence based practice, diagnostic imaging, and human movement. Dean Baldini noted Dr. MacLeod's research activity, grant writing, and collaboration.
2015 Recipients
Recipients for the second year of our faculty grants were honored at the 2015 Spring Brunch. Dean of Health and Human Services Fred Baldini again matched the Association's grant with an additional $500 for each recipient.
Dr. Darla Hagge, Assistant Professor of Speech-Language Pathology, was appointed in 2013.
She has a masters in Communicative Disorders from CSU Fullerton and a doctorate in Disability Studies from Chapman University. Dean Baldini noted that a broad range of services is provided to the community under her guidance.
Dr. Katrin Mattern Baxter, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy,
was appointed in 2012. She receiver her PT license at the Physical Therapy School of Albert-Ludwig University in Freibourg, Germany and her doctorate in Physical Therapy from Arizona School of Health Sciences, A.T. Still University. Dean Baldini noted that she has published numerous articles and is in demand as a speaker.
2014 Recipients
The Association's inaugural Faculty Development Grant recipients were honored at our 2014 Spring Brunch. The nominating deans showed their enthusiasm for the Association's new program by committing matching $500 awards for the recipients.
Dr. Michelle Dang, assistant professor of nursing,
was appointed in 2011. She has a masters in Nursing from CSUS and a doctorate from UC Davis. She was nominated by her dean, Fred Baldini who noted that she has made impressive progress in both teaching and scholarship.
Dr Sharon Furtak, assistant professor of psychology,
was hired in 2012. She has two masters degrees and a PhD from Yale. Her dean, Ted Lasher, noted that her scholarly output is well beyond that expected for faculty this early in their careers.