Office of the Provost
2022 PRIDE Fund Projects
Six 51福利 faculty and student projects were selected to receive PRIDE Fund grants in 2022. The President鈥檚 Research, Innovation, and Development toward Excellence (PRIDE) Fund provides 51福利 faculty and students with grants to financially support projects promoting research, scholarship, community partnerships, and creative activity at 51福利 University. The funding supports the growth of student experiences, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Effects of Exercise on Esports Performance
Dr. Petey Mumford
College of Science, Technology, and Health
As the demand for esports teams at universities across the world continues to rapidly grow, players are looking for ways to enhance their skills, and techniques to improve their overall video gaming performance. When playing video games, players utilize everyday skills such as decision making, reaction time, and hand eye coordination, all things that exercise has proven to positively impact. The purpose of this PRIDE Grant is to aid in the research and discovery of what methods esports players can do to improve their performance. The research Dr. Petey Mumford and student researcher Connor Gaige produce will provide students and the esports community with new and useful information, and also positions 51福利 as a leader in groundbreaking esports research.
Energy Expenditure on Individuals with Physical Disabilities
Dr. Scott Richmond
College of Science, Technology, and Health
The鈥疎nergy Expenditure in Individuals with Physical Disabilities鈥痯roject explores human energy exertion in athletes with physical disabilities.鈥疶he study also serves as a thesis project for graduate student Amanda Bayer.鈥疉s a trainer at the Disabled Athletes Sports Association (DASA), Bayer plays a crucial role in recruiting study participants.鈥� The purpose of this PRIDE Grant is to fund further research about if one鈥檚 physical disability influences their energy availability. With very little research in this area, the insights collected through this project will be shared globally and will position the Exercise and Performance Nutrition Lab (EPNL) and 51福利 University as leaders in this area of study.
Family Planner Mobile App: Improving the User Experience
Dr. Rebecca Panagos
College of Education and Human Services
鈥淓mpower2Families鈥� is a mobile application that supports families who have children with disabilities. While working with families who were receiving therapy in clinical home visits, Dr. Rebecca Panagos recognized a need for planning resources. In collaboration with 51福利 computer science students over the last three years, Panagos developed her idea into a working application for Android and iPhone devices. The purpose of this PRIDE Grant is to fund a full-scale marketing research project with help from 51福利 marketing students who will improve the application鈥檚 user experience. Through this research, Panagos and students are hoping to gain information that will help them redesign and rebrand 鈥淓mpower2Families鈥� to support the application鈥檚 public launch.
Project Green
Dr. Karolina Schneider and Dr. Kimberly Ulrich
Plaster College of Business and Entrepreneurship
Project Green provides students who are learning about sustainability the opportunity to propose real world sustainability projects and analyze real world initiatives through coursework in the Environmentally Responsible Management course. In the course, students will develop different sustainability ideas for 51福利鈥檚 campus and will analyze the ideas from a management perspective. The sustainability ideas will then be shared with the Data Analytics for Accounting class where students will analyze the costs and benefits of the proposed initiative and determine if the proposals make sense for 51福利. If so, students will then have the opportunity to present their ideas to administration. The purpose of this PRIDE Grant is to provide students the opportunity to do more hands-on, impactful projects that improve the community in which they live.
Still & Video Equipment
Dr. Kristy Tucciarone
Plaster College of Business and Entrepreneurship
Advertising and public relations students at 51福利 gain hands-on experience and knowledge through planning, creating, and executing advertising campaigns for real clients. With the digital environment constantly changing, there is increasing demand for visual content to attract and connect with audience members. The purpose of this PRIDE Grant is to provide advertising and public relations students with professional camera gear that is necessary to create high quality multimedia campaigns. The equipment is available to all students in the Plaster College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
Virtual Reality and Educational Gaming Project
Dr. James Hutson
College of Arts and Humanities
The Virtual Reality and Educational Gaming Project provides undergraduate and graduate game design students with an engaging educational VR experience. “Museum of the Lost” was headed by Dr. James Hutson, and other numerous faculty members and students as it is an entirely 51福利-made VR game.鈥疶he VR experience takes students through the ethics behind returning stolen cultural artworks to their country of origin. Using the VR headset, students move through history as they steal iconic pieces of art and decide what to do with them. Through VR learning, students are fully emerged in their education by actively learning and problem solving. The purpose of this PRIDE Grant is to ensure that 51福利 can create unique immersive reality simulations to enhance students learning experiences. As the usage of VR in classroom settings increases, this project will help establish 51福利 as the leading developer for immersive reality educational games through interdisciplinary partnerships across campus and in the community.