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Is AI taking over traditional procurement practices?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. It’s taking questions from clients, running assembly lines and is now pretty much part of every appliance in every house and is also an integral part of industry. In fact, in the attached article, Joe McNamara, global director of IT for food giant Kraft-Heinz details how he has implemented AI as a vital source for manufacturing and procurement across his company. Recently, Ruomeng Cui an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information System and Operations Management at the Goizueta Business School, Emory University along with colleagues from Rutgers University and Tianjin University, authored a paper regarding how Artificial Intelligence will be playing an expanded role in areas like procurement and how it will increase accuracy and efficiency for businesses on a global scale. If you’re looking to learn more about this topic – then let us help with your questions or coverage. Ruomeng Cui investigates how operations strategies create value in digital retail and platform markets. Professor Cui is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
Diary of a COVID-19 crisis nurse in NYC: A Georgia Southern student’s first job
On May 1, Tucker Westbrook could finally sleep in. He’d been on duty as a COVID-19 crisis nurse at Harlem Hospital Center in New York City for 11 consecutive days, with a routine that began before the sun came up and ended long after the city had gone dark. Most mornings, he’d wake at 5:45 am., center himself with prayer and meditation, eat breakfast, and hop on a bus in time to clock in for his shift at the largest public hospital in Central Harlem by 7 a.m. Each day as he entered the halls of the facility’s surgical floor, which was transformed into a COVID-19 holding unit for the larger part of his three-week work rotation, he was unsure of what he’d encounter. Just weeks earlier, Westbrook, a May 2019 Georgia Southern University nursing graduate from Butler, Georgia, accepted a short-term contract to assist with the Coronavirus pandemic in the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. This was Westbrook’s first professional job, following what was supposed to be a yearlong mission trip in Southeast Asia, but was cut short due to the pandemic, and nothing could fully prepare him for the impact of his initial experience. “The first day, I thought, ‘I’m not prepared for this,’” he admitted. “Those first few days I was on pins and needles and thought, ‘how am I going to mess up?’” The stakes were high. By the time he arrived in New York City, thousands had already been hospitalized, and many had died. Seasoned nurses and doctors were depleted and morale was low across the city, he explained on the phone as he looked out over a desolate Times Square from his hotel window. “They asked me, ‘why did you come here?’” Westbrook recalled. “And I said that I wanted to be, hopefully, a light in this dark place right now. The patients, the doctors, the nurses, the nursing assistants, the janitorial assistants — my goal is to learn everyone’s names and greet them with a smile behind my mask.” A friend encouraged Westbrook to look for a temporary nursing job upon his return from abroad. When he applied for highly competitive positions with a crisis staffing agency, he requested placement in an area hard hit by the pandemic. “Just like Southeast Asia, I wanted to go where there was the biggest need, and I had enough gifts to meet that need,” Westbrook said. This was Westbrook’s first trip to New York, and he stepped into a scene where images of makeshift morgues and ventilator shortages splashed across the media came to life in front of him. “It has been surreal to see,” he said. Assigned to provide cluster care to potential COVID-19-positive patients for minimal exposure, Westbrook also focused on simple acts of kindness to help ease increased anxiety among the patients. “That might be things as small as giving a wet rag to wipe their face,” Westbrook said. “It may be filling their jars with ice cold water in the morning. Whatever might help them feel more comfortable.” Westbrook’s patients were diverse: a teenage gunshot victim who sobbed at the prospect of being infected with the virus; an adult male who discussed intimate thoughts about death with his family over the phone; and a woman who was depressed until Westbrook sat with her so she didn’t feel alone. Experiencing humanity in its most delicate form was life-defining. “I was learning more about nursing care but also continuing to serve (my patients) beyond simply giving them medicine,” Westbrook said. “I was able to advocate for them with the doctor, especially without their families there. I’m learning how to go above and beyond, and what our job responsibilities are. I want to keep growing and learning to continue to give care to my patients.” The hospital staff also offered enormous support and guidance to Westbrook, who almost two weeks into the job felt exponentially more confident in his abilities. “If you had told me about any of this I wouldn’t believe it,” he said. “It has been incredible. I did not think I could do that at all, and here I am on the other side. This was such a lofty and high goal to complete this and do well. I’m thankful to even be here and have this opportunity.” Westbrook credits his father for encouraging him to study nursing, and Georgia Southern faculty for their expert instruction, which he put to use in New York, as well as their sage advice. “I wasn’t sure I was going to get my license,” he said. “My desire to become a doctor or a missionary became more and more compelling, but my professors assured me that it would be worthwhile to pursue my license, and they were right.” Following a quarantine in his family’s home, Westbrook will begin pre-medicine classes at Georgia Southern this summer. If you are a journalist looking to know more about Tucker’s story or the nursing program at Georgia Southern University – let us help with your coverage. Barry Joyner is the dean of Georgia Southern University’s Waters College of Health Professions - simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
Scarcity reduces consumers' concerns about prices, research shows
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- During the current pandemic, panicked overbuying of products such as toilet paper, cleaning products and similar items often has led to limited options for consumers and empty store shelves. What's often left are generic or lower-priced branded products. According to new research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, it may not be because consumers during this crisis are viewing higher-priced products as having better quality. A paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that scarcity actually decreases consumers' tendency to use price to judge a product's quality. "Scarcity is aversive and triggers the desire to compensate for the shortage, and to seek abundance," said paper co-author Ashok Lalwani, associate professor of marketing at Kelley. "People who face scarcity are less likely to view less vs. more expensive options as belonging to different categories, and thus are open to differences at either or both ends of the price continuum." This is the first paper to directly show the impact of scarcity on price-quality judgments. The findings are applicable amid times of economic crisis, natural disasters and social disturbances. "We suggest that people may not only differ in terms of how they categorize purchases, but also in terms of the extent to which they categorize, and scarcity reduces the tendency," Lalwani said. While consumers frequently judge the quality of a product based on its price, they change their thinking during times of scarcity and are less likely to categorize objects and less likely to use the price of a product to infer its quality, Lalwani and his co-authors found. The business implications for managers at high-end stores or those who want to increase sales of high-priced items are numerous. Lalwani suggested that one way such managers can activate the belief that higher prices indicate higher quality is by varying context or environmental factors. This could include encouraging consumers -- such as through contests or sweepstakes -- to categorize assorted items by price to facilitate the use of price-tiers as a basis for judging a product's quality. "The same objective could also be attained by reducing consumers' desire for abundance," Lalwani said. "For example, inside the store, managers could have portraits, displays or ads highlighting the harmful effects of gluttony or hoarding behavior. Doing so may increase customers' price-quality inferences and shift them from purchasing lower-priced to higher-priced goods. "Our findings also suggest that when stronger price-quality inferences are desired, retailers are advised to avoid utilizing scarcity messages, such as 'sale ends this week' or 'while supplies last,' especially for product categories in which the proportion of high-priced items is high, as priming scarcity among consumers may decrease their price-quality inferences." Other authors of the paper, "The Impact of Resource Scarcity on Price-Quality Judgments," were Hanyong Park, assistant professor of marketing at the Eli Brand College of Business at Michigan State, and David Silvera, retired associate professor of marketing at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
As the race for the White House continues, speculations are growing on who former Vice President Joe Biden will have as his running mate. As of late, the direction Biden is being shown is to choose a woman of color. After a devastating start to the Democratic primary, Biden’s campaign was revived when black voters in South Carolina and throughout the south overwhelmingly sided with him. Now that he is the presumptive Democratic nominee, black voters and leaders are pressing for him to pick a black woman as his running mate. Biden launched a committee last week to begin vetting possible candidates for the vice presidency, a process he has said will likely last through July. He has already committed to picking a woman. But black voters and leaders say he needs to go further and pick a black woman. They argue that Biden’s success – and that of the Democratic Party as a whole – depends on black people turning out to vote in November. They want a tangible return for their loyalty to the democratic party. Political analysts like Augusta University Political Science Professor Dr. Gregg Murray say Sen. Kamala Harris from California and former Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams are the two standout choices that fit this bill. Although Harris and Abrams each bring positives to Biden’s campaign, Murray says they both have some baggage. “Harris is respected in the senate and including Abrams on the ticket could help the Democrats penetrate the traditionally GOP voting south,” said Murray. “However, Harris has an unfavorable record among critics of criminal justice reform and Abram’s lost in Georgia’s governor’s race raises questions on her electability beyond her home territory. I’m sure Biden’s team will consider all the facts before making their final decision.” As campaigns need to revamp and reconsider strategy in an election run in the wake of a pandemic, getting the ticket in order might come sooner than later. And if you are a reporter covering this topic, then let our expert help. Murray, professor of political science at Augusta University, is available to talk about the upcoming election. Murray’s research focuses on political behavior and psychology with specific interests in voter mobilization and turnout. He is also executive director of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences. He has been featured on CNN and is a go-to for national media covering campaigns. Click on his name to request an interview.
Covering Remdesivir – Contact an expert from Cedarville first
There has been a lot of talk about treatment, vaccinations and drugs that are being used during the CVOID-19 pandemic. The latest is Remdesivir – and it is getting a lot of attention. The US's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised emergency use of the Ebola drug remdesivir for treating the coronavirus. The authorisation means the anti-viral drug can now be used on people who are hospitalised with severe Covid-19. A recent clinical trial showed the drug helped shorten the recovery time for people who were seriously ill. However, it did not significantly improve survival rates. Experts have warned the drug - which was originally developed to treat Ebola, and is produced by Gilead pharmaceutical company in California - should not be seen as a "magic bullet" for coronavirus. What do we know about remdesivir? The drug did not cure Ebola, and Gilead says on its website: "Remdesivir is an experimental medicine that does not have established safety or efficacy for the treatment of any condition." Gilead also warns of possible serious side-effects. However, President Trump has been a vocal supporter of remdesivir as a potential treatment for the coronavirus. In its clinical trial, whose full results are yet to be released, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) found that remdesivir cut the duration of symptoms from 15 days down to 11. The trials involved 1,063 people at hospitals around the world - including the US, France, Italy, the UK, China and South Korea. Some patients were given the drug and others were given a placebo (dummy) treatment. Dr Anthony Fauci who runs NIAID, said that remdesivir had "a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery". However, although remdesivir may aid recovery - and possibly stop people having to be treated in intensive care - the trials did not give any clear indication whether it can prevent deaths from coronavirus. May 02 - BBC There are still a lot of questions to be asked: When could it be ready for mass distribution? How is it administered? Who can get it? And how much will it cost? If you are a journalist covering this emerging issue – then let our experts help. Dr. Zach Jenkins is an infectious disease expert at Cedarville University. He is available to speak with media about this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Step aside Walking Dead – There’s another leading TV show being shot in Georgia now
When location scouts for NBC’s new television series “Council of Dads” combed Savannah for a realistic venue to shoot multiple hospital scenes, they knew they had found something special in the Health Professions Academic Building on Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus. “I set up a visit, came and looked at it and I was floored,” said “Council of Dads” location scout and Armstrong Campus alumnus Anthony Paderewski. “I couldn’t believe it. Basically, you have a backlot for a TV show here. It was absolutely perfect for what we were looking for. So that being said, I went and I talked to the producers and I got some pictures. When I showed the pictures everyone was blown away.” “Council of Dads,” which premiered March 24 and now airs on Thursdays, is based on the book by Savannah native Bruce Feiler, and developed by former “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunners Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, who also serve as executive producers on the series. The story follows Scott Perry, a father of five who, after receiving a cancer diagnosis, asks a group of friends to step in as father figures to his children in the event that he isn’t around to see them grow up. “It’s an emotional family drama,” explained “Council of Dads” co-executive producer and producing director Jonathan Brown. “The idea is to try and be as real as possible. And the show is telling the story of a family and what it means to be a family in this day and age. It’s not just blood. The definition of family is growing, broadening with the types of relationships that are now included in a family. This is the story of one of those families that is made up of blood relationships, friendships, adoption and all those different kinds of things.” The show filmed almost entirely on location in the Savannah area for five months. Several of the scenes take place in a hospital, and the set has to be believable, multifaceted and offer the right aesthetic for television. Primarily, the true-to-life setting allows the University to provide exceptional education and training opportunities to help students succeed while addressing the healthcare needs of the region. The Waters College of Health Professions, housed in the Academic Building and Ashmore Hall, is the largest undergraduate health sciences college in the state of Georgia, and the University’s allied healthcare programs represent almost one-fifth of all undergraduate healthcare degrees earned in Georgia. “The use of the Health Professions Academic Building is validation that we are training our students for real-world health care settings,” said Barry Joyner Ph.D., dean of the Waters College of Health Professions. “The goal for the building was to simulate a hospital setting, and we have accomplished that.” Are you a journalist looking to cover this topic or learn how Georgia and Universities like Georgia Southern are working with film and television industries – the let us help with your stories. Barry Joyner is the dean of the Waters College of Health Professions at Georgia Southern University and is available to talk about this latest project on campus – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
Voice teachers and singers are facing an avalanche of questions while planning how to return to “normal operations” as restrictions ease from the COVID-19 pandemic. Singers generally expel more breath and saliva than normal talkers, so are their social distancing requirements different than most? If public health officials require six feet of separation at all times, how does a choir practice and perform? If voice lessons have to be done remotely, how can tone and pitch be properly evaluated via an internet connection? These are just some of the dilemmas facing voice teachers and music professors. “We are highly concerned in the arts related to how we deal with teaching when we return to campuses, classrooms and studios, particularly with singing,” said Allen Henderson, executive director of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and professor of voice at Georgia Southern University. “Singers are what we might call super-emitters — in terms of what is expelled in a breath. What kind of precautions do we need to take?” To help start answering such questions, Henderson and NATS organized a webinar called “A Conversation: What Do Science and Data Say About the Near-Term Future of Singing?” It is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, at 5 p.m. He said within 24 hours of the webinar’s announcement, more than 2,000 people had signed up. “I was able to secure one of the major researchers on aerosolization of viruses,” Henderson said. “I suspect there will be a lot of higher education arts administrators in attendance and the information shared will be used widely in formulating responses to the unique problems of teaching music when reopening occurs.” Henderson noted that when the country shut down, the process was fairly quick and uniform. As organizations such as universities make plans to return to ‘normal’ operations, leaders will likely have to develop their own plans unique to their settings. “It will be complicated, and it’s about what protocols institutions and individuals have in place in regard to testing and contact tracing so that there’s a sense that we are creating as safe an environment as possible,” Henderson said. “Our job is to arm our colleagues with the best possible science-based information we can.” To learn more about the upcoming webinar, simply visit the story attached:
No graduation – no problem. See how one Georgia Southern senior took care of her ceremony online
For many, this spring was to be a milestone commemorating many years of hard work and dedication. Graduating from university is the official step into adulthood and the achievement of academic excellence. But this year is different. COVID-19 is either restricting celebrations or cancelling them outright. For some students, it is a disappointing moment. Others, like Rebecca Hooper, a senior marketing major at Georgia Southern University, saw an opportunity to innovate. On Tuesday, March 17, during spring break, Georgia Southern announced the cancellation of its in-person Spring 2020 Commencement ceremonies for Statesboro and Savannah. Since that time, the University has announced an online ceremony for graduates on May 8 and 9 and hopes to be able to hold a rescheduled in-person ceremony on or before commencement in December. As the news broke, Hooper and her friend were playing Minecraft, a sandbox video game which allows users to create digital worlds where they can build as many landscapes and structures as they like. As they played the game and chatted online, Hooper had what seemed like a crazy idea. “I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we built the stadium?’ I just said it as a joke at first, but then the next day rolled around and I started on it. And then it kept on going and going and I couldn’t stop,” she said. Two days later (and more than eight hours of digital construction), Hooper had created Glenn Bryant Field and the home side of the stadium. She also built a commencement stage complete with a jumbotron that said, “Hail Southern! One More Time!” Knowing that no ceremony would be complete without Freedom’s Flight, Hooper added “Freedom” on the stage. However, the closest thing she could find to the University’s bald eagle mascot was a green parrot, who let out a little squawk and bobbed up and down. Hooper posted a flythrough of the stadium on Twitter, with a comment that said, “GSU said no graduation in Paulson. I said Minecraft graduation in Paulson #HailSouthern.” The response was immediate and overwhelming. Hooper has big plans for her virtual stadium. She’s planning on doing some online tours through Twitch, a video game playthrough app. She’s also invited her friends to help her finish building the stadium, complete with Bishop Fieldhouse, press boxes, sky boxes, and the large parking lot where she hopes to invite people to build their own virtual tailgating structures. If you are journalist and would like to know more about this story - simply reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview.
Does gender matter when it comes to COVID-19?
As America begins to adapt and adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, details are emerging about who is more susceptible to the virus and why. The latest is gender. In fact, as some are observing, it seems men are more likely to fall victim to COVID-19 than women. A report published by the New England Journal of Medicine showed men not only made up 60% of the first 393 COVID-19 patients admitted in two New York City hospitals, but they were the highest group placed on ventilators. Another study of people hospitalized in the United States for COVID-19 in March similarly found that “males may be disproportionately affected by COVID-19 compared with females.” “The higher risk of COVID-19 among men we are seeing in New York City may be consistent in other US regions, including the southwestern Georgia area that has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” says Dr. Justin Moore, an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences in the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. “Researchers are still looking into why men, specifically African American men, are seemingly more susceptible to the virus. However, we know this may be due to underlying health issues, including hypertension, obesity and diabetes.” It’s a startling detail and one that needs to be communicated. If you are a journalist covering COVID-19 and how men may be more vulnerable than women during this crisis – then let our experts help. Dr. Justin Moore is an expert in spatial epidemiology and an associate professor at the Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Augusta University. He is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
As the global pandemic touches almost all parts of the United States – it is essential that the public receives only accurate and definitive information from credible and expert sources as news, media and information reaches million of people across the country. An invisible enemy is killing thousands and forcing people worldwide to cower behind closed doors. Unfounded conspiracy theories and miracle “cures” abound on social media. Politicians and pundits send mixed messages about how to protect yourself. Who you gonna call? - Bedford Gazette, April 14 As the coronavirus rampages, the public increasingly is turning to experts in academia and government -- the educated, experienced “elites” that many Americans had tuned out. The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) situation is certainly new to all of us. As guidance from the CDC changes and instructional methods transition, there are experts at Georgia Southern who can help to answer questions such as: How should we best address this pandemic as a nation? How should we best address this pandemic individually? What does it mean to “flatten the curve?" What is the economic impact of COVID-19? How do you best manage employees virtually? Why are grocery stores having trouble keeping inventory on their shelves? Should we prepare for a lapse in groceries and goods? What contributes to the fear and panic in disasters and pandemics? What do educators, parents and students need to know to prepare for online learning in the K-12 and college settings? If you are a reporter covering COVID-19, let the team of experts from Georgia Southern help with your coverage. Public Health: Atin Adhikari, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health Dr. Adhikari brings over 15 years of extensive research experience on aerosols, airborne microorganisms, other air pollutants, and related respiratory disorders. His current research areas include environmental air quality, exposure assessment, occupational health and safety, environmental microbiology, and respiratory health. Before joining JPHCOPH, Dr. Adhikari was also involved (Co-I) with two DoD-DTRA and U.S. Office of Naval Research funded projects on inactivation of hazardous microorganisms. Chun Hai (Isaac) Fung, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health Dr. Isaac Chun-Hai Fung is a digital health expert and an infectious disease epidemiologist. He analyses social media data for public health surveillance and health communication and uses digital technologies for public health interventions. He investigates the transmission of communicable diseases with a focus on respiratory infections and environmentally transmitted infections. He applied a variety of methods, from classical statistical methods to machine learning and mathematical modeling, to address public health problems and to provide solutions to policy-makers. He is especially interested in assisting public health agencies in their responses to public health emergencies. He is currently a guest researcher with the Health Economics and Modeling Unit, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Examples of his recent projects include: Surveillance of unplanned school closures through social media platforms, Analysis of social media posts pertinent to public health emergencies, such as Ebola, MERS and Zika. Jessica Schwind, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health Dr. Jessica Smith Schwind is an epidemiologist and program evaluator. She joined the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences at JPHCOPH in August 2017. Her current research interests include disease surveillance, capacity building and risk communication for the prevention and/or early recognition of outbreaks with a focus on: best practices for operationalizing the ‘One Health’ approach, understanding and improving capacity building efforts and priorities for increasing health surveillance, and improving early warning systems for disease detection and response by bridging the gap between global digital databases and local health information. Schwind also conducts SoTL research on innovative online/onsite teaching and evaluation with a focus on immersive and service-learning practices. Pandemics, panic and the public: Amy Ballagh, Ed.D. Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management Featured in the Washington Post : Jessica Schwind, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health Dr. Jessica Smith Schwind is an epidemiologist and program evaluator. She joined the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences at JPHCOPH in August 2017. Her current research interests include disease surveillance, capacity building and risk communication for the prevention and/or early recognition of outbreaks with a focus on: best practices for operationalizing the ‘One Health’ approach, understanding and improving capacity building efforts and priorities for increasing health surveillance, and improving early warning systems for disease detection and response by bridging the gap between global digital databases and local health information. Schwind also conducts SoTL research on innovative online/onsite teaching and evaluation with a focus on immersive and service-learning practices. Jodi Caldwell, Ph.D. Executive Director of the Georgia Southern University Counseling Center On a national level, Dr. Caldwell is currently serving her second elected term to the Directorate Board of the Commission for Counseling and Psychological Services of the American College Personnel Association and is a certified Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Responder. COVID-19 and logistics, the economy and the workforce: Alan Mackelprang, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Logistics & Supply Chain Management Currently the director of the Ph.D. in Logistics and Supply Chain Management program, his research interests include examining interdependencies among supply chain partners, JIT/Lean production, manufacturing flexibility as well as supply chain integration. Scott Ellis, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Logistics & Supply Chain Management Scott Ellis’ research interests center on the study of purchasing and supply management processes and functions. He has published in Journal of Operations Management and Journal of Supply Chain Management, among others. Richard McGrath, Ph.D. Professor, Parker College of Business Richard McGrath researches immigration, consumer survey methodology, and applied microeconomics. He is a long time expert on the economy in Savannah and the Coastal Empire. Michael Toma, Ph.D. Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Economics Michael Toma is a professor and lead analyst for the Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research, a student- and faculty-staffed applied research group focused on the Savannah-area economy that works with many local partners on special initiatives, customized applied business research and impact studies. Based on Toma's analytics, the Center publishes the quarterly Coastal Empire Economic Monitor, a closely watched economic report. Toma's community ties are also strong in the area. He serves on the Board of Directors for United Way of the Coastal Empire and on the organization's Executive Committee as chair of the Community Investments Committee. David Sikora, Ph.D. Assistant professor of management David Sikora’s research interests include strategic human resource management and the business impact of employee management practices. He has published his research in such journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, Human Resources Management Review, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, and International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management. Prior to his academic career, David had extensive corporate experience in human resources and marketing including serving as human resources vice president at Cigna Corporation and director of human resources product management at Gevity HR, Incorporated. Steven Charlier, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Management Charlier’s research interests are focused on the modern work environment, and include virtual teams, e-learning, leadership in a virtual world, and management education. His work has been published in several leading international academic journals, including The Leadership Quarterly, Human Resource Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Academy of Management Learning & Education, and Human Resource Management Review. Online teaching and learning: Charles Hodges, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Leadership, Technology and Human Development Hodges is a tenured professor of instructional technology at Georgia Southern with over 20 years of online teaching experience. As an active researcher in online teaching and learning, Hodges presents regularly at the national and international levels. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the journal and he is a long-time member of the Association for Educational Communications and Technologies, a professional organization for Educational Technology scholars and practitioners. Featured in the Inside Higher Ed article (published 3/11/20): Jeffrey Tysinger, Ph.D. and Dawn Tysinger, Ph.D. Professors, Department of Leadership, Technology and Human Development The Tysingers are one of very few individuals who are actively researching in the area of crisis preparedness in K-12 online learning Professors, Department of Leadership, Technology and Human Development The Tysingers are one of very few individuals who are actively researching in the area of crisis preparedness in K-12 online learning: o https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar/vol2/iss1/4/ o https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2811036.2811057 o https://eric.ed.gov/?q=Tysinger&id=EJ1147626 o https://eric.ed.gov/?q=Tysinger&id=ED595756 Dawn Tysinger, NCSP, serves as professor and program director for the nationally-recognized, National Association of School Psychologists-Approved Education Specialist program in school psychology at Georgia Southern University. Tysinger has contributed to her field through active participation in NASP, publications in school psychology journals, and presentations at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels. She currently serves on the NASP program review board for school psychology programs and as a member of the editorial boards of Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, Trainers’ Forum: Journal of the Trainers of School Psychologists, National Youth-At-Risk Journal and Journal of Online Learning Research. Jeff Tysinger, NCSP, is a professor of school psychology at Georgia Southern University. He has been the president of the Kansas Association of School Psychologists (KASP), editor of the KASP Newsletter, KASP Futures committee member, KASP NCSP committee member, member of National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) since 1997, Nationally Certified School Psychologist since 1997, NASP Program Reviewer, NCSP Portfolio Reviewer, member of NCATE Board of Examiners, member of Georgia Association of School For parents at home with (k-12) children now distance learning: Chelda Smith Associate Professor, Department of Elementary and Special Education Smith’s master's thesis focused on parents as the first teachers of children and can speak to how parents can be empowered in that role. Her research agenda continues to focus on home and community assets, of which parents/caregivers are the primary influence and factor for positive outcomes. Lastly, as a parent of both a middle schooler and a toddler, Smith is navigating the process of being a primary educator in the home in real-time. Each expert is available to speak with media – simply contact Melanie Simon at 912.313.3245 to arrange an interview today.