Beth Rushing, PI, Appalachian College Association
Beth Rushing (she/her, Ph.D., Sociology) has been President of the Appalachian College Association since 2017. She has served as faculty member and academic administrator at institutions such as Kent State University, Georgia College & State University, University of Washington Tacoma, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and Guilford College. As a higher education administrator, she was particularly interested in working within faculty governance systems to help institutions reach their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. Her scholarly work has examined faculty job satisfaction, employee work/life balance, and social determinants of health.
Carey Ruiz, Co-PI, Campbellsville University
Carey Ruiz (she/her, Ph.D., Sociology) serves as Co-Principal Investigator. She is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Campbellsville University. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in Sociology and Justice Studies. Her research interests are in the areas of race, class, and gender inequality. She is particularly interested in issues that affect structural change and the consequences those changes have on underrepresented populations.
Grant Willhite, Co-PI, Tennessee Wesleyan University
Grant Willhite (PhD, Biology) serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Tennessee Wesleyan University. He served as Professor of Biology for 15 years at TWU prior to moving into his administrative role in 2017. As a seasoned administrator and science professor, he has observed the real effects of faculty diversity on the student experience and the challenges of hiring and retaining diverse faculty at smaller institutions of higher learning in Appalachia.
Alexa Arndt, Appalachian College Association
Alexa Arndt (she/her, Ph.D., Higher Education) serves as Project Director for ACCE at the Appalachian College Association. Her research interests concern gendered labor exploitation in the academy. Alexa is particularly interested in and passionate about gender equity issues in higher education.
Steering Committee
Jennifer Burris, Lenoir-Rhyne University
Jennifer L. Burris (she/her, Ph.D., Physics) serves as the provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Lenoir-Rhyne University. She has a passion for mentoring and developing faculty and for equity, diversity, and inclusion. She has dedicated efforts toward developing women in higher education through her service as principal investigator on an NSF ADVANCE grant, her service on the board of the BRIDGES academic development program for women, and as a founding member of the executive board of the North Carolina ACE Women’s Network.
Kris De Welde, College of Charleston
Kris De Welde (she/ella, Ph.D., Sociology) is Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Professor of Sociology at the College of Charleston, SC. Kris studies intersectional inequalities in higher education, organizational change for academic justice, and liberation-focused pedagogies. She brings to this project over two decades of experience studying, consulting on, and collaboratively enacting institutional change for equity and academic justice.
Jennifer Dugan, Muskingum University
Jennifer Dugan, Ph.D. (Political Science) serves as Provost at Muskingum University in Ohio. She has led with equity values in her service to private rural institutions, most recently in the Appalachian region. She brings experience in equity work, including on faculty handbooks’ definitions and distributions of faculty workloads, and is excited to serve on this far-reaching committee.
Oksana Gerlits, Tennessee Wesleyan University
Oksana Gerlits (Ph.D., Chemistry) serves as Associate Professor of Chemistry at Tennessee Wesleyan University. She teaches undergraduate Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry courses; her research interests are in biochemistry and structural biology. As a mother of two girls, she is enthusiastic about becoming an ally for gender equity and offers her full support to the committee with the Appalachian Colleges Collaborating for Equity project.
Shinjini Goswami, Lees-McRae College
Shinjini Goswami (Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology) serves as the Assistant Dean of Natural and Health Sciences and an Associate Professor of Biology at Lees-McRae College, North Carolina. Her research interests concern the interactions between plants, soil, and ecosystem biogeochemistry and she teaches biology and wildlife biology courses. As an Indian national, being a first-generation immigrant who has lived in Europe and is living in the United States, she is aware of the challenges that ethnic minorities face in academia and is passionate to serve in this committee and act towards creating an environment which is more inviting towards women, underrepresented minorities, and socio-economically underprivileged students.
Tracy Hodge, Berea College
Tracy Hodge (PhD, Physics) serves as Professor of Physics and the Leslie Worth Chair in Science at Berea College. She teaches undergraduate physics and astronomy courses and conducts research in optical and infrared astronomy. As the co-facilitator of the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project at Berea, Tracy is excited about this opportunity to support early career women and underrepresented minorities in STEM.
Rosalie Richards, Stetson University
Ben Van Dyke, Young Harris College
Benjamin Van Dyke (he/him, PhD, Psychology) serves as Assistant Professor of Psychology and Faculty Director of the First-Year Experience at Young Harris College. He teaches undergraduate courses related to mental and physical health, research methods and statistics, and the history and philosophy of psychology. His research interests focus on the psychology of pain, especially among emerging adults and gender and sexual orientation minority populations. He is passionate about creating opportunities for more diverse students in STEM fields and increasing LGBTQIA+ representation in research and higher education.
Carly York, Lenoir-Rhyne University
Carly York (Ph.D., Ecological Science) serves as an Associate Professor of Biology at Lenoir-Rhyne University. She teaches courses on animal physiology and science communication. As a woman in STEM, she endeavors to promote gender equality in the hard sciences.
