Three faculty members in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Dr. Nevbahar Ertas, Dr. Akhlaque Haque and Dr. Wendy Gunther-Canada, received organization-wide awards from NASPAA (Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration). NASPAA is the accreditation agency for schools of public policy and public administration, and is the primary organization for pedagogy and administration in those fields.

Ertas won the NASPAA Award for Outstanding Service, specifically for her role as Chapter Advisor of Pi Alpha Alpha, the honors organization in the area of professional public administration.

Haque and Gunther-Canada will be honored for co-authoring the 2019 Article of the Year in the Journal of Public Affairs Education (JPAE). JPAE is the flagship journal of NASPAA and is and is widely considered a top journal of pedagogy and program administration within the field. Their article, "Public Service For All: How a Global Ethic Prepares Public Administrators for a Transnational Century," was lauded for its “span of coverage, methods, and impact to the field.” The awards committee further cited the articles’ role in helping to “increase evidence-based instruction and administration of public affairs programs.”

They will accept their awards at the national meeting of NASPAA, which will be held in October in Los Angeles.

Shannon L. Blanton, Ph.D., Dean of the UAB Honors College, announced today that after a university-wide search Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk, DMA, will be the new Associate Dean of the college. Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk is an Associate Professor of Voice, and Director of Opera, in the Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences.

As Associate Dean, Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk will help lead the teaching and engagement mission of the UAB Honors College and facilitate the recruitment and academic success of a diverse student body. She will contribute to the intellectual life of the Honors College and the University as an active faculty member, continuing to teach and engage in scholarly activity through the Department of Music.

Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk received both Bachelor of Music in voice performance and a Master in Music in voice performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in 1991 and 1994, respectively. She went on to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in voice performance and pedagogy.

As a soprano, Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk is a specialist in the lute songs of John Dowland, and her solo CD of lute songs was released in 2008 by Centaur. In 2018, she gave the world, European, and Canadian premieres of Lori Laitman’s The Secret Exit, composed for her and clarinetist Denise Gainey. A CD is under negotiation and is forthcoming. She debuted with the Boulder Bach Festival in 2004, Alabama Symphony in 2011, and the Tuscaloosa Symphony in 2016. In demand as a clinician throughout the United States and Europe, she has been featured at several national and international conferences and presents regularly at many universities and colleges. She teaches applied voice to music majors, minors, and musical theater majors, and has served as stage director and musical director for UAB Opera, which has won three awards through the National Opera Association under her direction. She began serving as Coordinator of Voice in 2018, previously has taught honors courses with the Honors College, and served as a 2018-2019 Honors Faculty Fellow.

“I am delighted that Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk is joining our leadership team as the first associate dean for the UAB Honors College,” says Dean Shannon Blanton. “She has already made important contributions to Honors education as both a professor of honors courses and as an Honors Faculty Fellow. Her interdisciplinary research and teaching, as well as her compassion, thoughtfulness, and organizational skills, will be a true asset for the Honors College as we continue to support a rapidly growing number of outstanding students in their journey to achieve their academic and leadership goals.”

Dr. Patrick Evans, Chair of the Department of Music, notes that Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk "brings a great deal of artistic, pedagogical, and administrative experience to the role, as well as those qualities of heart and mind that make her such a student-centered professor. We are grateful she will still be teaching some voice students in the Department of Music during her tenure as Associate Dean, and look forward to supporting her in this new and exciting role in every way we can."

“My teaching in the Honors College, its University Honors Program, and as an Honors Faculty Fellow has been deeply gratifying and has informed my work in the Department of Music,” says Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk. “I’m looking forward to working with Dean Blanton and my colleagues in the Honors College, and am excited to join such a creative team. Both my department chair, Patrick Evans, and Honors colleagues have been very supportive, and for that I am very grateful.”

Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk will begin her new duties as Associate Dean on August 12, 2019.

The UAB College of Arts and Sciences will offer a training session for students preparing an application to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Training will occur on Thursday, September 5, 2019, at 3:30 pm in Volker Hall Lecture Room B. We welcome anyone from across the UAB campus to attend.

The NSF GRFP program offers up to three years of financial support to graduate students enrolled in a wide range of scientific fields. The program’s stipend is generous ($34,000 per year, plus up to $12,000 for “cost-of-education allowance,” including tuition), although the written application is short compared to many other grants and fellowships. Students may apply as undergraduates or in their first or second year of graduate school. There are various categories of students who are excluded from submitting, including international students and those who recently earned a master’s degree and are entering a Ph.D. program. Deadlines for submission are from October 21 to November 1, 2019, depending on the field of study.

More information about the fellowship program solicitation is available at the National Science Foundation website.