Overview
Established in 2022 by Provost Sara Zeigler, the Provost’s Faculty Internship Program is designed to develop leadership skills at the university level among EKU faculty. As a complement to the annual Provost’s Leadership Institute, the Provost’s goal is to build exceptional leadership by supporting individual faculty development.
Faculty will participate in a range of mentoring and learning opportunities, collaborate with colleagues in the Office of the Provost and other academic and administrative offices across campus, and assume leadership roles on critical campus strategic initiatives and projects, designed in conjunction with individual interests and long-range career goals. The Internship program capacity is limited to five.
Faculty Leadership Development
As part of the program, faculty will become familiar with and increase their understanding of university-wide academic initiatives, strategic planning, budget issues, and challenges in higher education. In addition, faculty will make direct contributions to the Office of the Provost by taking on special projects and assisting in other operational activities.
The faculty will have the opportunity to:
Faculty selected for the program will:
The Internship program is designed to 1) increase awareness of faculty leadership skills, 2) provide practical opportunities for faculty leadership skill development, and 3) design tailored leadership skill development for faculty.
Faculty will meet once per month during the fall and spring. The Internship experience begins in the summer. Mentors will be assigned by the program Welcome. Internship members will be invited to select, pre-planned Academic Affairs meetings.
Interns will be invited to serve as members of the Provost’s Faculty Advisory Committee in year two.
Eligibility
Faculty members at the Associate Professor and Professor ranks are eligible to apply for the Provost’s Faculty Internship Program. Capacity is limited.
The application will be available in spring 2025.
Application Process
Applications Due: April 2025
2025-2026 Cohort Announced: April 2025
2025-2026 Welcome: May 2025
Internship Program Begins (Learning Plan Design): Summer 2025
Provost’s Faculty Internship Cohorts
Alison Buck
Department of Language & Cultural Studies, Anthropology, and Sociology
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Alison Buck is an Associate Professor of Sociology and the Sociology Program Coordinator. Her research and teaching interests focus on the reproduction of inequality across organizational contexts. She has presented research at national and international conferences in her field and founded the Social Science Research Symposium at EKU to help showcase student and faculty scholarship.
Ashley Cole
University Librarian
EKU Libraries
Ashley Cole is a University Librarian and Associate Director of Collection Strategies at Eastern Kentucky University. Her current practice and scholarship centers on optimizing academic library support for university programs through curriculum and collection mapping, while also advocating for open knowledge practices that break down barriers to access and foster inclusive knowledge creation. Ms. Cole’s scholarly contributions include presentations at national conferences and publications on academic libraries and their role in fostering integrative and lifelong learning.
Heather Fox
Department of English
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Heather Fox is an Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of English Teaching Programs. She is the author of Arranging Stories (UP of Mississippi, 2022) and recipient of EKU’s Teaching & Learning Annual Themed Award (2024), Libraries Partnership Award (2022), and High-Impact Practice Teaching Award (2021). A broad range of research interests in American literature and English education inform her interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to teaching. She is currently co-editing an archival pedagogy collection with the University of Illinois Press.
Marie Manning
Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership
College of Education and Applied Human Sciences
Marie Manning is an Associate Professor in the Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership department. As the undergraduate coordinator, she leads advising activities, provides mentorship for students and faculty, addresses curriculum and program needs, assists with retention and recruitment, and collaborates with B-12 stakeholders among various other duties and responsibilities. Dr. Manning teaches courses in special education with an emphasis on behavioral disorders at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is on the editorial team for Rethinking Behavior. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders. She fosters an interdisciplinary and collaborative learning culture across all aspects of teaching, scholarship, and service. She received her PhD in Special Education Leadership from the University of North Texas.
Tim Wiggins
School of Music
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Tim Wiggins is an Associate Professor of Music Education and Director of Athletic Bands at Eastern Kentucky University. He has taught, performed, and conducted music with players and students ranging from fifth grade through professionals, along with adults in community and religious venues. Trained as an instrumental music educator, conductor, and orchestral bassoonist, Dr. Wiggins has spent much of his career teaching bands and orchestras. He has managed comprehensive band programs at middle and high schools, currently directs all aspects of the EKU athletic band program and teaches undergraduate and graduate students in areas of large and chamber ensemble performance, teacher training, classroom management, conducting, and athletic bands. Dr. Wiggins holds a Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University, a MM in Wind Conducting from the University of Memphis, and BM’s in Orchestral Bassoon Performance and Instrumental Music Education from Arizona State University.
Dom Ashby
Department of English
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Dom Ashby (he/him) is Coordinator for First-Year Writing and Associate Professor of Composition in the Department of English. Dom’s teaching and research interests focus on writing pedagogy, ungrading, and fan studies. He is a mentor for the EngaGE program and serves on multiple committees, including CLASS Curriculum. Dom is the 2023 recipient of the EKU Libraries Partnership Award.
José Juan Gómez-Becerra
Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Anthropology, and Sociology
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
José Juan Gómez-Becerra is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Latinx Studies in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Anthropology, and Sociology at Eastern Kentucky University.
Mike Lane
Department of Parks, Recreation, Exercise and Sports Science
College of Health Sciences
José Juan Gómez-Becerra is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Latinx Studies in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Anthropology, and Sociology at Eastern Kentucky University.
Jade Robinson
Communication Sciences & Disorders
College of Education and Applied Human Sciences
Jade Robinson is an Associate Professor in Communication Sciences & Disorders (CSD). Jade serves as the CSD Program Coordinator and the CSD Faculty Representative for the Interdisciplinary Autism Certificate Program. Her clinical research interests include language and emergent literacy development, early intervention, and caregiver-implemented strategies that facilitate language development. She teaches a variety of courses, including language development, language assessment, diagnostics in communication disorders, school-based services, and augmentative & alternative communication.
Curtis Streetman
School of Music
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Curtis Streetman is an internationally recognized operatic bass singer that leads EKU’s opera program, teaches applied voice, language arts for singers, and leads the newly founded EKU Early Music Ensemble. Streetman balances his teaching opportunities at EKU with a robust performing schedule. Recent performances include appearances in Austria, Spain, and The San Francisco Bay area. Streetman has recorded for Doria, Musical Heritage Society, Deutsche Harmony Mundi and Sony Classics.
John Brent, Associate Professor
School of Justice Studies
College of Justice, Safety, and Military Science
John J. Brent, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. He holds a Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Delaware. His interests focus on: the cultural and structural dynamics of crime and crime-control; how institutions create and perpetuate inequalities; building a theoretical foundation of criminal justice theory; and how individuals are disciplined and punished.
Jamie Fredericks, Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
Dr. Jamie Fredericks is an associate professor in the chemistry department and is currently the director of the forensic science program. Jamie is originally from the UK and received his PhD in forensic science at Cranfield University. Dr. Fredericks is currently working on a DNA collection tool that could revolutionize the forensic science community.
Kerem “Ozan” Kalkan, Associate Professor
Department of Government
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Ozan Kalkan is an Associate Professor of Government. He specializes in intergroup attitudes, religion and politics, and quantitative research methods. His research focuses on attitudes toward and of Muslims around the world, elite/mass polarization in prejudice toward minorities, and advanced measurement techniques. He currently teaches both in political science and Master of Public Administration programs.
Jessica Lair, Associate Professor
Department of Physics, Geosciences, and Astronomy
College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
Jessica earned a B.S. in Engineering Physics and a B.S. in Mathematics from West Virginia University Institute of Technology. She then went to Clemson University and earned a M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics. Her research interests are observational studies of Type Ia Supernovae and Physics and Astronomy Education Research.
Erin Presley, Associate Professor
Department of English
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Erin earned the Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia and is an Associate Professor of English. She enjoys teaching courses in her home department at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, in the Honors Program, and for the Appalachian Studies Program. She is currently revising her book manuscript about Horace Kephart’s literary legacy for the University of Tennessee Press.
Matthew Sabin, Professor and Athletic Training Program Director
Department of Exercise and Sport Science
College of Health Sciences
Matthew is the Athletic Training Program Director in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science. He completed his PhD at the University of Illinois, studying neuromuscular control as well as concussion biomechanics, management, and assessment. Though program administration and teaching dominate most of his current role, he has a continued interest in the management of concussions and the use of blood flow restriction in therapeutic interventions.
Contact
Russell Carpenter, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost & Professor of English
Eastern Kentucky University
russell.carpenter@eku.edu