The endowment will give Keisha Lovence, a professor of nursing, the ability to work on a project that will innovate how her nursing students learn about the effects of substance abuse on the heart.
Eastern Michigan University’s James H. Brickley Endowment for Faculty Professional Development and Innovation has received an estate gift from the late Anthony and Lois Evans, who were close friends of the former university president James H. Brickley. The Evanses left the endowment $4 million in their estate, and combined with their previous $1 million gift to the endowment, have given $5 million total to the James H. Brickley Endowment for Faculty Professional Development and Innovation.
The James H. Brickley Endowment for Faculty Professional Development and Innovation is a fund that will help instructors and faculty members pursue innovative ideas through financial support that covers conference funding, hiring of research assistants, travel cost coverage, and more.
According to an article on Eastern Michigan University’s website, university President Brendan Kelly was quoted as saying, “One thing we encourage our staff and faculty to do at Eastern is to think outside the box. That’s what the Brickley award allows our faculty researchers to do. It provides support to pilot an idea or try something new, and gives our faculty space to take a risk. It rejects the traditionally highly-structured nature of research and takes away the pressure that can stifle or limit an idea. This transformational gift from Anthony and Lois Evans allows us to continue dismantling the guardrails of innovation.”
Professor of nursing, Keisha Lovence, will use funding from the James H. Brickley Endowment for Faculty Professional Development and Innovation to enhance nursing education for her students. Desiring to move beyond traditional textbook and video demonstrations, Lovence is working with Frank Fedel, a professor of health promotion and human performance, to develop a virtual reality experience that will give nursing students an inside look at the effects of substance misuse on a patient’s heart.
Fedel will develop the technology based on Lovence’s curriculum contribution. The virtual reality technology will let students witness how blood vessels to heart valves react to substance misuse.
Lovence said, “This provides an immersive experience where they not only learn this in a one or two-dimensional sense, but with an opportunity to understand the disease process in a different way. It will change the way they understand cardiovascular anatomy and physiology, and visualize disease processes in ways that traditional teaching methods cannot. I also think about how this technology could serve as an educational tool for patients and community members, helping them better understand how substance abuse affects cardiovascular health.”
Lovence also noted the importance of the Brickley Award, saying, “This is such an honorable award. It allows us to be creative and build ideas that will help not just build our research, but really challenge us in the work that we do in our education and teaching.”
Holly Lynn Baumgartner, the associate provost and vice president for graduate studies and research, said, “Students benefit in the classroom when faculty use their relevant work to inform their teaching. The Brickley impact ultimately is all about the public because results of this EMU research and professional development serve the greater good, aligning with the intent of these generous and insightful donors.”
For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the school’s website.