University Honors

UHON Student Research Assistants

Because UTC is a strong undergraduate institution with a relatively small graduate student population, outstanding undergraduate students have opportunities that would be reserved for graduate students at larger research universities, such as participating in faculty research, helping organize academic conferences, assisting in editing professional journals, developing new lab experiments or teaching materials under faculty direction, and much more. The UHON Student Assistant Program was developed to facilitate just such beneficial faculty/student partnerships. The program began in August 2001 with funding from the UC Foundation Student Development Committee.

All UTC full-time faculty are eligible to apply for a UHON Student Assistant at the beginning of the fall semester. After faculty applications are received, all UHON students in good standing are invited to apply for positions that interest them. Students are then matched with faculty based on expressed interest and available funding. Positions may be one semester or year-long. Students earn $10.00 per hour up to a maximum of $1000 per semester.

Student assistants for 25 faculty members will be funded during the 2009-2010 academic year. They are:

• Caitlin Case, who will work with Professor Verbie Prevost (English) to research individual writers and provide updated material on each for the Tennessee Writers web site, a database of over 500 writers.
• Emily Hurst, who will work with Professor Marcia Noe (Women's Studies) to write and edit articles for the women's studies newsletter, update and develop promotional materials, and to select and organize articles for a collection on Susan Glaspell's Trifles.
• Michael Allen, who will assist Professor Mohammad Ahmadi (Business Management) with a study of the effect of technological advancements on the use of the library by library patrons, and in revising and editing a manuscript for publication.
• Andrew Phillips, who will help Professor David Sachsman (Communication) plan, organize, and oversee the 17th annual Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression.  He will also help select topics and papers for the symposium's next book of readings.
• Andra Blanariu, who will work with Professor Ed McMahon (Engineering) to review and categorize new technology created at federal laboratories and other sources and to create a database to link to the web.
• Jacob King, who will assist Professor Catherine Kendall (Interior Design) with research, image collection, and technical support for a reference dictionary for the history of design.
• Travis Vaughn, who will assist Professor Tatiana Allen (Physics) on laboratory projects to study transport properties of thin metallic and semiconducting films to observe phase transitions.
• Ron Nelson, who will work with Professor Michael Bonnal (Economics) on library and internet research related to the openness to trade and economic growth and assist with database construction and analysis of information gathered from 178 countries over a 30-year period.
• Raquel Barlow, who will work with Professor Lisa Cothran (Psychology) as a research assistant on a new mentoring program for first-year females who are academically able but at risk for poor performance.
• Nicole Wooten, who will work with Professor Lucien Ellington (Asia Program) on the publication of an Asian studies journal, and program planning for Japan and China study tours and Asian studies seminars for high school and middle school teachers.
• Heather Weir, who will assist Professor Jane Womack (ESL Institute) with conversation classes and field trips for international students enrolled in the Institute, tutoring for the TOEFL, and coordinating special programs.
• Chelsea Dobbins, who will assist Professor Chris Smith (Nursing) with literature review and data entry on HPV screening in college age students, and with initial preparation of an obstetrics study of the minority and immigrant populations.
• Martha Hunter, who will work with Professor Valerie Radu (Social Work) on testing and data entry for the fourth annual Social Justice Retreat, and will assist with analysis of data collected over a 4-year period to prepare an article for submission to an academic journal.
• Kimberly McDonald, who will help Professor Linda Collins (Biological and Environmental Sciences) complete a UTC greenhouse gas inventory as part of UTC's commitment to reduce its global warming emissions. The inventory includes emissions from electricity, heating, commuting, and air travel.
• Katie Kinsinger, who will work with Professor Gavin Townsend (Art) to develop an online database on Chattanooga architectural history and organize a conference of SESAH (Southeastern Society of Architectural Historians)
• Elizabeth Hofer, who will continue work with Professor Rich Metzger (Psychology) to collect and analyze data for a project designed to examine the cognitive function of women suspected of having breast cancer.
• Katie Christie, who will continue to assist Professor Sybil Baker (English) to research and implement online and offline marketing and promotional opportunities for a literary novel, schedule readings and interviews, and organize promotional events.
• Case Duckworth, who will assist Professor Rebecca Cook (English) to prepare creative manuscripts for submission to literary journals and university and small presses.
• Monika Groppe, who will work with Professor Lisa Muirhead (Nursing) on a project that will examine health determinants and health risk for chronic disease of adults residing in Jamaica. The results of the study will be used to compare to African American adults residing in Hamilton County, Tennessee. There will also be an analysis of student nurse perceptions of a transcultural experience while providing service learning activities while in Jamaica.
• Paige Gabriel, who will work with Professor John Friedl (Political Science) on a project that involves updating a cultural anthropology textbook. The work will include reading the manuscript and work on possible subjects for photographs for the textbook
• Rachel Johnson, who will assist Professor Irven Resnick (Philosophy & Religion) to prepare materials, update the web site, and manage correspondence related to the administration of a summer 2010 faculty institute funded by the NEH.
• Emma Hall, who will work with Professor Jennifer Boyd (Biological & Environmental Sciences) on a hybrid breeding program of the American and Chinese chestnut, helping to propagate and care for locally collected chestnut seeds, measuring and analyzing light responses of plants grown in the UTC greenhouse, and interpreting data collected during the study.
• Jessica McKinney, who will assist Professor Tammy Garland (Criminal Justice) with a study on bullying, particularly examining the evolving nature of bullying with the increase in use of technology.
• Caitlin Rice and Trenna Sharpe, who will work with Professor Rick Jackson (English) to assist in editing a special issue of Poetry Miscellany focusing on Czech Poetry.
• Sara Rouse, who will work with Professor Sarah Boykin (Interior Design) on a research project that is the survey and documentation of the life and work of Leila Ross Wilburn, an Atlanta architect who designed hundreds of houses and apartment buildings, which were built in neighborhoods throughout the Southeast during the first six decades of the 20th century.

Full-time faculty members from all disciplines are encouraged to apply for assistants. A call for applications for fall 2010 assistantship funding will take place in August 2010. Click on the following link for the Faculty Application for UHON Student Assistant.

Tim Brooks, working on a UHON Student Assistantship helping Dr. Gretchen Potts develop new lab experiments for CHEM 121