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Faculty Senate Minutes, Academic Year 2024-2025, February 19, 2026, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

Minutes for the Faculty Senate Meeting held February 19, 2026.

Ueof, Nick Truong, Pritam P. Karkomar, William J. Beksi

Event-Based Vision - Archive

UEOF is the first synthetic underwater event-based optical flow dataset derived from physically-based ray-traced RGBD sequences. It was constructed using a modern video-to-event pipeline applied to rendered underwater videos. It consists of realistic event data streams with dense ground-truth flow, depth, and camera motion. The dataset is composed of 12 minutes and 51 seconds of data across 13,714 RGB frames. This results in a total of 4.94 billion events across all scenes. UEOF exhibits a high dynamic range of motion with a mean flow magnitude of 6.1 px and a median of 3.6 px. The motion distribution is heavy-tailed. While …

A Transcriptional Program Associated With Neurotransmission In The Living Human Brain, Alexander W. Charney, Lora E. Liharska, Eric Vornholt, Alissa Valentine, Anina Lund, Alice Hashemi, Ryan C. Thompson, Terry Lohrenz, Jessica S. Johnson, Nicole Bussola, Esther Cheng, You Jeong Park, Salman Qasim, Alisha Aristel, Lillian Wilkins, Kimia Ziafat, Hannah Silk, Lisa M. Linares, Brendan Sullivan, Claudia Feng, Beniamino Hadj-Amar Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

At the foundation of neurotransmission, and by extension at the foundation of brain function, are coordinated programs of gene expression involving many thousands of genes. These programs are poorly defined in humans because most modern studies that characterize human brain gene expression use tissue obtained in the postmortem state when neurotransmission and brain function have ceased. Here, to advance knowledge of the gene expression programs at the foundation of neurotransmission in the human brain, gene expression was characterized in 130 prefrontal cortex (PFC) samples obtained from participants of the Living Brain Project (LBP) during neurosurgical procedures in conjunction with intracranial …

Spectator 2026-02-19, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

A Supply And Demand Intervention Increased Fish Consumption Among Rural Women: A Randomized, Controlled Trial, Alexander Tilley, Kendra A. Byrd, Hamza Altarturi, Gianna Bonis-Profumo, Joctan Dos Reis Lopes, Mario Gomes, Katherine Klumpyan, Lorenzo Longobardi, Kelvin Mashisia Shikuku

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Malnutrition is a critical public health issue in Timor-Leste, where nearly half of children under five suffer from stunting and diets are chronically low in nutrient-rich foods, including fish. We conducted a cluster-randomized, 2×2 factorial, parallel-arm controlled trial to evaluate the effects of nearshore fish-aggregating devices (FADs, a technology designed to increase pelagic fish catch rates), social behaviour change (SBC) interventions, and their combination, on household fish purchasing and consumption in inland villages of Timor-Leste. However, inland households exposed to both FADs and SBC were nearly twice as likely to purchase fish (PR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.14–3.20, p<0.05) and women were over four times as likely to report fish consumption the previous day (PR: 4.17, 95% CI: 1.88–9.29, p<0.001), compared to controls. No significant effects were observed from FADs or SBC alone. These findings suggest that the combination of supply-side (FAD) and demand-side (SBC) interventions is necessary to improve dietary intake in nutritionally vulnerable, inland populations. These results underscore the importance of integrated food system approaches to address poor diet quality and reduce malnutrition risks in small island developing states. Trial registration: Trial registered at clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT04729829.

Optimising Time For Schoolwide Improvement: Developing A Time-Use Study Process For Mtss Leadership Teams, Hank Bohanon, Eleanor Charlton, Alejandra Vazquez, Anna Press

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

School reformers have inundated staff with numerous improvement efforts in recent years. These efforts include multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) that involve early, preventative interventions. Educators, already burdened with heavy workloads, may feel frustrated by the lack of time to implement MTSS approaches. Researchers suggest that time-use studies could help educators better understand and optimize their use of temporal resources. However, no time-study research has specifically addressed school MTSS leadership teams. This research involved developing a time-use study process to support leadership teams in gathering and reflecting on time-use data to improve MTSS implementation. Researchers gathered educators’ recommendations from four …

Spirituality Educational Intervention To Enhance Nurse Resiliency, Anna Cerra

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Relevance/Significance: Healthcare environments are complex exposing nurses to demanding workloads, staff turnover as well as personal stress. Resilience can help new nurses withstand the emotional stress of the workplace and improve nurse retention (Chaing et al., 2021). Evidence suggests that Spirituality Training provides resources to support clinical nurses’ use of spirituality within hospital settings to help diffuse stress, build resiliency and enhance patient outcomes (Chaing et al., 2021; Caton, 2021). Often nurses are not adequately prepared to provide spiritual care.

Purpose: The purpose of this evidence-based practice, EBP, project is to provide an educational structure using Spirituality Training …

Cake: Our Story Of The Development Of A Resource To Develop Healthy Workplace Cultures, Caroline A.W. Dickson, Kath Macdonald

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

The purpose of this presentation is to share our story of co-designing, producing and testing of an interactive resource to promote individual and team well-being and effectiveness in clinical practice. As we emerge from the pandemic, the spotlight in global healthcare is focused on well-being and healthy workplace cultures. According to Saville (2021) stress and burnout in the workplace leads to staff moral distress and Hinderer et al. (2014) contend it is having a negative impact on patient safety and quality care. The impact extends to recruitment and retention of the health and social care workforce (Buchan et al. 2020). …

Gratitude, Materialism, And Sustainable Consumption Behaviors Among Filipino Young Adults: A Mediation Analysis, Julia May L. Benavente, Nephtaly Joel B. Botor, Helga P. Vergara, Michelle C. Merca, Sarah Jen C. Paccarangan

Journal of Management for Global Sustainability

The study examined the relationships among gratitude, materialism, and sustainable consumption behavior (SCB), exploring whether gratitude functions as a protective factor against consumerism among the youth. Using a descriptive-correlational cross-sectional design, survey data were collected from 109 Filipino college students (Mage = 22.2 years old; SD = 2.02; age range = 18–21 years old; 63.3% female; 70.6% middle-income households) who completed adapted measures of gratitude, materialism, and SCB. Results revealed nuanced associations among the three constructs. At the bivariate level, there were inverse associations between gratitude and materialism, and between materialism and SCB. At the multivariate level, a mediation analysis …

Virtue And Artificial Intelligence, Derek Schuurman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

As I write this article, my streaming music service is offering new songs that match my current selections. Recommendation engines can make use of AI (artificial intelligence) to recognize my listening patterns to make future song suggestions. In fact, I receive daily nudges from AI systems through internet search suggestions, purchase recommendations, video streaming prompts, auto-completion of texts and emails, and personalization of my social media feeds. These daily prompts and nudges can have major impacts on our habits and practices.

Our Own 'Miss Alabama' Pam Long Leaves Saturday For Atlantic City, The Flor-Ala

Documents

Miss UNA and Miss Alabama Pam Long busily gets ready for the Miss America Pageant 1974.

Battles Busy; Miss America Could Be Next, Kaye Franklin Veal

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Miss Alabama Pam Battles looks to the future and the Miss America Pageant.

Best Of State's Beauties Competing For A Crown As 1986 Miss Alabama, The Birmingham News

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Miss Alabama 1986-Amy Beth Jones and DeLon Smith pictured.

Battles Wins Miss Alabama, The Timesdaily

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Miss UNA 1982 Pam Battles wins Miss Alabama 1983.

Past Miss Point Mallard Winners, Decatur Daily

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No abstract provided.

Yesteryear, Athens News Courier

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25 Years ago... Karen Pressnell of Elkmont was crowned Miss UNA during a pageant at the University of North Alabama in Florence.

Florence State Junior Wins Miss Alabama Title, Associated Press

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Miss UNA 1974, Pam Long, wins the title of Miss Alabama at Birmingham-Southern College Theater.

They'll Know Susie "Country Girl' Is Going City (Atlantic), Cindy Greene

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Interviewing Susie Vaughn on her upcoming trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey and the Miss America Pageant.

*Article in The TimesDaily*

The Miss America Pageant, Miss America Pageant

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The Miss America Pageant Program 1974

To Be Busier, The Times-Journal

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Miss Alabama Pam Battles

Goodbye, Pam, Jim Hannon/Staff

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Off to crown the next Miss Alabama.

Pamela Kaye Long 'Our' Miss Alabama, Sara Prater

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News article and photographs of Miss Alabama Pamela Kaye Long, who also was the first Miss UNA 1974.

Local Girls Miss Crown But Take Scholarships, Daily Mountain Eagle

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Miss Alabama Pageant 1984

Ethnoarchaeology Of Hunter-Gatherer Technology In Venezuela: Behavioral, Material, And Archival Approaches, Dr. Russell Greaves

LAII Events

Archaeologist Dr. Russell “Rusty” Greaves will deliver the Maxwell’s Annual Ancestors Lecture. Dr. Greaves has over 35 years experience, primarily in the American West. He has performed long-term ethno- archaeological and behavioral ecology research with Pumé foragers of Venezuela since 1990. This talk combines ethnoarchaeological fieldwork, examination of multiple museum collections, and archival documents to address strategic use of women’s and men’s foraging tools and food acquisition techniques.

Crispr Spacers Reveal Diverse And Abundant Thermococcales Viruses In Hydrothermal Vents, Ryan Catchpole, Justin Mclean, Emily St John, Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Mart Krupovic, Michael P. Terns

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Viruses are the most pervasive biological entities on Earth and they profoundly shape host ecology and evolution. However, for many microbial lineages, knowledge of their viromes remains limited, especially for those inhabiting remote environments, including deep-sea ecosystems. Here, we leverage one of the most extensively cultivated and genomically characterized archaeal lineages, the Thermococcales, to identify novel viral genomes. By utilizing CRISPR spacers from isolates and spacer arrays reconstructed from metagenomes, we mined mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in 1,172 publicly available and newly sequenced hydrothermal vent metagenomic datasets. Comparative genomics and identification of viral hallmark proteins revealed 620 viral genomes across …

L. Dots To Data: Manufacturing Digital Seismic Traces From Scanned Images Of The Paper Sign Bit Sections From The 1970 Flathead Lake Seismic Survey, Robert W. Lankston

1970 Flathead Lake Seismic Survey

PowerPoint slides and the recorded audio of a lecture presented by Robert Lankston on October 13, 2014 in the University of Montana, Department of Geosciences Colloquium lecture series.

M. Epilogue For The 1970 Flathead Lake Seismic Project Collection, Robert W. Lankston

1970 Flathead Lake Seismic Survey

Re-introduction of the 1980 Qamar-Kogan seismic survey at Flathead Lake with recommendations for building an archive for that project. Article includes a proof-of-concept for converting scanned images of seismic sections recorded in variable density to digital seismic traces.

Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System In Preeclampsia: Pathophysiological Insights And Links To Vascular Dementia, Robin C. Finch, Jenny Lutshumba, Elizabeth Mirsky, Esther Ndashaala, Kelsey Bullens, Emma Smith

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Pre-eclampsia, a condition characterized by new-onset hypertension during pregnancy and one or more indices of organ damage, is a major driver of both short and long-term maternal health outcomes. Individuals with a history of pre-eclampsia are at increased risk for cardiovascular, renal, and other chronic diseases. Recent studies have linked pre-eclampsia history with increased risk of dementia later in life, underscoring the importance of new guidelines emphasizing blood pressure control to reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Unfortunately, neither mechanisms underlying causes of pre-eclampsia nor their links with cognitive function are well understood. Vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia …

Legal Ai Takes Center Stage At Law School, Marisa C. Atkinson

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – The growing use of artificial intelligence in legal reasoning and the legal field will be the topic of discussion at the Jack Dunbar and Wylene Dunbar Lecture in Philosophy and Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Black History Month Concert Features Steelpan, Music Of The Caribbean, Delaney Girard

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Acclaimed steelpan artist Liam Teague, a professor of music and director of steelpan studies at Northern Illinois University, is the featured guest artist for the University of Mississippi's Black History Month Concert.