Georgia College & State University’s College of Health Sciences hosted a Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) March 24.

CAPS is a virtual reality simulation designed by the Community Action Poverty Simulation in Missouri. Last Friday, approximately 62 GCSU students attended the simulation. During the simulation, students took on the identity of someone in poverty and worked together with their family or group to live a ‘month’ in poverty.

The simulated ‘community’ is a large room.

Students and their ‘neighbors’ homes are chairs in the center. The services they need like banks, schools and grocery stores are tables that line the perimeter of the room.

Throughout the course of four, 15-minute ‘weeks’ students face a range of stress and challenges based on stories of real life Community Action clients who live in poverty.

“We want students to be aware and sensitive of different backgrounds, so they don’t judge a situation immediately presented to them,” said Toyia Barnes, office coordinator for the School of Health and Human Performance.

“The Community Action Poverty Simulation allows students to actively live in poverty to understand it on a deeper level so they will avoid those biases in the future.”

The Dean of the College of Health Sciences, Sheri Noviello, learned about CAPS and wanted to bring the simulation to Georgia College to spread awareness and empathy for those in poverty and their situations. In a press release by University Communications, they noted millions live at or below the federal poverty level. Nearly 40% of Milledgeville’s residents live in poverty, which is 26% higher than the state average and nearly 30% higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

See the rest of the Baldwin Bulletin story written by Bailey Ballard here.

The Academic Affairs Small Grants Committee has awarded Drs. Kevin Hunt, Lisa Griffin and Ms. Candice Griffeth $5,000.00 for their research project, Exercise is Medicine.

In addition, Dr. Joanne Spalding has been awarded $4,984.00 by the Academic Affairs Small Grants Committee for her research project, Analysis of the Physical and Positional Demands of an NCAA DII Women's Soccer Season with Measures of External and Internal Load.

The Office of Academic Affairs is pleased to have the opportunity to support these research projects.

Executive members of the Athletic Training Student Organization represented the MSAT program at the College of Health Sciences Spring Scholarly Luncheon this month. Among those they were able to network with was President Cox!

The Undergraduate Cancer Health Equity Research and Internship program is designed to provide four undergraduate students from Georgia College & State University with an eight-week immersive research training experience. Funded by the American Cancer Society and in collaboration with the Morehouse School of Medicine, this three-year funding opportunity will provide undergraduate GCSU students each summer who come from underrepresented populations in the scientific workforce the opportunity to learn and be mentored in research endeavors that seek to address disparities in health outcomes. Two GCSU faculty (Drs. Damian Francis and Ernie Kaninjing) will provide the training and mentoring opportunities.

During my internship as a Student Research Assistant in the Piedmont Oncology Research department, I've had the opportunity to play an active role in research protocol conduct and facilitation for multiple oncology studies. This includes reviewing protocols in full and then utilizing the inclusion and exclusion criteria to screen patients for eligibility via their electronic medical records. Once I have identified eligible patients, I assist in the informed consent process, ensuring that the patient understands every point of the informed consent form before enrolling in the study. After the patient consents, I assist with the enrollment and randomization processes, which differ for each study. I then complete the appropriate documentation and data entry that each study requires.

Along with research protocol conduct and facilitation, I have created a Master Log that includes every patient enrolled in the active oncology studies across various Piedmont locations. I've also included descriptive information regarding each study and patient. The oncology research team will continually update this log to keep track of the patients and their upcoming study visits.

I have also had the opportunity to attend many research meetings and have gained insight into the latest cancer treatment options and research studies. Overall, this internship has given me a deep appreciation for the complexities of clinical research, and I have enjoyed every aspect of it. In the Fall, I'll be attending Georgia State University and getting my Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology.

Pictured below: Madeline Conlon

Almost 500 members of the Georgia College & State University community from all areas of the campus came together to share research and creative expressions.

The result was an overwhelming success for the university’s inaugural Research Day.

Pictured below:

Elizabeth Niswonger, Sylvia Clark, Christina Snider, Alexis Vallianatos, and Kaitlyn Smith recently presented their research at the Georgia College & State University Research Day.

Congratulations to Casey Elliott on the successful defense of her DNP project titled

"The impact of a human trafficking education module on nurse practitioner students awareness, knowledge, and confidence in responding to human trafficking."

Come out and support GCANS. Thank you to Drs. Angela Queen, Jennifer Goldsberry, Ms. Morgan Fordham and Tiffany Parrish for volunteering. Which professor will you pie?

Follow: Instagram @gcsu_gcans & Facebook.

Job Connection Op: Tabling on campus on April 18, 10 am – 1 pm

Final Meeting: April 18, 6:00 pm in Peabody

Pie A Professor: April 19, 3:15 – 4:30 pm

The Cottages Birthday Party: April 28, 2:15 – 3:30 pm

GCANS partnered with GC Miracle to raise funds for the Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital. GCANS members attended a dance marathon to celebrate the $468 dollars GCANS raised throughout the 2022-2023 school year. Thank you to all our members who raised money and stayed active with GCANS. We plan to remain partners with GC Miracle and continue fundraising each school year.

Cherisse Howell was selected to receive Georgia College & State University's Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Paige Alford nominated Cherisse based on the following criteria established by the Outstanding Graduate Assistant Awards Committee:

• Demonstrated excellence in position and good work ethic. Attitude and performance go beyond the job requirement. Takes on responsibilities beyond the job requirements.
• Has made important contributions to the faculty member’s research or department’s operation.
• Evidence of future promise as a professional in a chosen career field.

The committee determined that Cherisse met and surpassed these criteria and has demonstrated the outstanding qualities GCSU looks for in a graduate assistant.

Cherisse was recognized as a recipient at The Graduate School Spring Annual Reception on March 30, held at the Old Governor’s Mansion Education Building.

Pictured below: Cherisse Howell SNM, BSN

Tormechi Chambliss received the Ph.D. Nursing Student Research Award from the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University. Ms. Chambliss is a “Double Bobcat”, having completed her RN-BSN and MSN in Nursing Education from GCSU. She serves as a Lecturer in the GCSU School of Nursing.

Delaney Faas was selected as the winner of the naming contest of the Georgia College & State University School of Nursing Newspaper with the name, The Scrub. Delaney is currently a second-semester nursing student from McDonough, Georgia. She knew

GCSU was her home college on her first visit. The beautiful campus and small

town drew her in.

Delaney noticed how friendly everyone was and that the professors at GCSU wanted to help her succeed. Delaney did not realize she had a calling to be a nurse until she was a senior in high school. She knew that healthcare was an interest of hers but did not think she would be able to handle what comes with healthcare.

After researching nursing, she knew that it

was something she wanted to pursue. The idea of helping people and healing them

was appealing.

Continue this story and Read The Scrub here.

Dr. Kristin Corbin Oja, ’11, ’14, ’15, founder of STAT Wellness in the greater Atlanta area, focuses on functional medicine with her patients, so they can live the best, healthy version of themselves every day.

Learn how her education, especially her Master of Science in Nursing at Georgia College & State University, aligned well with her career goal of helping others to be intentional in their health.

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