Faculty/Staff Achievements Roundup: Article by Cappella, Bard, and Bontempo accepted to Oxford Education Research Symposium

This is part of a monthly series highlighting the honors and achievements of Buffalo State University faculty and staff. The roundup is compiled from the previous months' submissions to the Daily Bulletin and department newsletters.

Elizabeth (Betty) Cappella, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor emerita of higher education administration; Geraldine Bard, professor emerita of English; and Barbara Bontempo, professor emerita of English; had their article, "The Importance of Volunteering and Service Learning for Children, Teens, Parents, Families and Adults: A Guide for Promoting Altruism through Actions of Social Justice, Equity and Peace" accepted by the Oxford Education Research Symposium to be held in July 2026 at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. This is the second paper accepted by this prestigious institution concerning the award-winning work done by Project Flight, a not-for-profit 501(C)(3) organization started at Buffalo State in 1993 with award-winning programs that promote altruism using literacy, volunteerism, and service learning to enhance Social Justice, Equity, and Peace.

In their presentation, Cappella, Bard, and Bontempo will focus on different aspects of Projects Flight's highly regarded programs that promote social justice by working closely with community organizations like the Buffalo News; WGRZ Channel 2; Wegmans; and the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.

"We recognize that the impact derived from volunteerism and service learning can change the world and the volunteer for the better in beneficial life-changing ways," Cappella said. "At a time when polarization seems stronger than ever, one simple truth offers hope: serving others changes everything. Acts of kindness, whether through volunteering, community work, or compassion in daily life, can dissolve barriers, open hearts, and ignite creativity that leads to lasting, positive changes."

Kaylene Waite, senior graphic and web designer in Buffalo State's Print and Design Center and Project Flight board member, was instrumental in putting the paper together and will assist with the technological elements of the presentation in Oxford. part of the presentation in Oxford.

In addition to Project Flight's paper acceptance, here are some other recent outstanding achievements by Buffalo State faculty and staff members:

Speech-Language Department clinical faculty Kathryn Budin, Terri Cinotti, and Christina Mulé conceived a novel clinical program this past summer, spearheaded by Kathleen McNerney and Sara Mann Kahris, with Budin and Chris Heximer serving as university liaisons. The pilot program offered 18 first-year graduate students the opportunity to provide services under the supervision of speech-language pathologists in seven community agencies, exposing them to new clinical techniques, diverse client populations, and unique work settings that are experiencing a shortage of professionals.

Kim Chinquee, associate professor of English, penned the novella, I Thought of England, which is included in the tryptic Agency 3 (Baobab Press). Chinquee was also one of five featured readers invited to present at the renowned Salmagundi Club in Manhattan on behalf of NOON, in its celebration of over 25 years of publication. In addition, Chinquee was invited to be the featured writer at Central Michigan University's Meijer Visiting Writer Series and the featured writer and guest lecturer at the Pitt-Bradford Arts Visiting Writers Series.

Ann C. Colley, SUNY distinguished professor emerita of English, published her recent book, Coleridge and the Geometric Idiom: Walking with Euclid, with Cambridge University Press. She has just learned that because of an active interest in her work, the book is now available in paperback with the Cambridge University Press.

Hermen Diaz III, associate professor of higher education administration and adult education, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Rhode Island and the University of Texas at Austin, recently published an article in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice titled "The Invisible Middle: Latino Men in Higher Education Student Affairs Master's Programs." Their research examined the lived experiences of 21 Latino men in higher education and student affairs master's programs, highlighting how their social identities shaped academic engagement, relationships with faculty of color, and recommendations for graduate program improvement.

Maggie M. Herb, director of the Muriel A. Howard Honors Program, served as co-chair of the 2025 International Writing Centers Association/National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing joint conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 15-18. Along with co-chair Daniel Floyd of the University of Cincinnati, Herb developed and designed the conference theme ("Movement and Metamorphosis: The (Non-) Spaces of Writing Center Work"), programming, and schedule. The conference was attended by more than 500 writing center administrators and tutors from 47 states and 7 countries.

Jamie (Joonyeong) Kim, professor of chemistry, attended the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists (NEAFS) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At the conference, he presented research conducted with his graduate students titled "Comparisons of Terpene Compositions in Cannabis Flowers Between Solvent Extraction and Headspace-Solid Phase Microextraction," coauthored by G. Poleto, K. Ignaszak, and H. Begner.

David Mawer, assistant professor of art and design, had a series of animations accepted for the Pixel x Pixel exhibition at UTexas Dallas. This work was also nominated for induction into the permanent video collection at the Edith O'Donnell Arts and Technology at UT Dallas.

David N. Ben-Merre, chair and professor of English, has written the book, O: Apostrophic Ghosts and the Disappearing Acts of Lyric Poetry, which is now available from SUNY Press. The epilogue to the book, "Every Þrose has its thorn: on Poison, the Cure, and other Pharmacological Prickles; Or, Why are you so far away?" co-written with Manu Samriti Chander (Georgetown University) is available through Buffalo State.

Marko J. Miletich, assistant professor of modern and classical languages, has been placed on the Fulbright Specialist Roster for a tenure of three years.

Joseph A. Miller, associate professor of art and design, had several of his paintings and drawings published in Curlew New York Magazine, Pictura Journal, and Rundelania Journal.

Joey Nicoletti, lecturer in the Writing Program, wrote the poem "Resolve," which was recently published in MockingHeart Review and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Nicoletti's poem "Silo City," which was originally published in Peacock Journal, was selected for inclusion in North Coast Voices, a poetry anthology forthcoming from Main Street Rag Press in 2026.

Andrea B. Nikischer, associate professor of higher education administration and adult education, presented a paper at the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) 2025 Annual Conference. The paper, "Exploring the impact of Long Covid on faculty life and work," was featured during Virtual Conference Day on September 26.

Gerard J. Puccio, SUNY distinguished professor and chair of creativity and change leadership, announced the release of a new guidebook, Cultivate Creative Thinking for the Future of Work, co-authored with Pamela Szalay (2008), and published by the Association for Talent Development (ATD). The guidebook, which is being shared with ATD's 30,000 members, is designed to support individuals as they develop their creative-thinking capacities, as well as learning and development professionals who want to integrate creativity training into their practice. Puccio is also the lead editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Creativity in Global Higher Education (Palgrave Macmillan), which presents a global review of how colleges and universities foster creativity as a teachable, trainable skill and features more than 30 international case studies showcasing innovative programs and strategies in higher education.

Anita Senthinathan, associate professor of speech-language pathology (SLP), and former Buffalo State University SLP graduate student Sharon Tudorovsky published the paper "Hemihypomimia and lingual tremor in Parkinson's disease: A case report" in Brain Disorders. Tudorovsky graduated from the M.S. Ed. program in 2024 and the case review was part of her graduate capstone research project.

Tao Tang, professor of geosciences, published the single author textbook Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Analysis: Applying ArcGIS Pro (2025, John Wiley and Sons) and IEEE (International Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers) Press. This textbook is the collection of his 26 years Geographic Information Science and Systems teaching and research experiences at Buffalo State.

Jie Zhang, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, published the four articles: "Death Anxiety and Suicidal Behavior" in Journal of Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences 5(12):1576-1580 (2024) with coauthors David Lester and Bob Lew; "Psychological Strain as a Source of Mental Disorder and Suicidality" in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Disability, edited by Gabriel Bennett and Emma Goodall; "Temporal Sense as a Measure of Well-Being and Life Satisfaction" in Psychological Studies 70(2):187-200 (2025) with coauthors Yanzheng Liu, Sibo Zhao, Haoyi Ji, and Dwight Hennessy; ""Research on the impact of income disparity on national happiness: based on the perspective of national governance" in Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy: 1-24. S (2025) with coauthor Xiaoning Sui; and "Income disparity and suicide rates: evidence from countries" in Sociological Spectrum 10 (2025) with coauthor Xiaoning Sui. In addition, Zhang attended and delivered a talk at the 30th ACPSS International Conference held at Pacific Lutheran University in Seattle, Washington, October 10-12. The topic of his speech was "Sociological Approach to Understanding Chinese Social Change in the Past 40 Years."