Dr. Plaisance is an Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Plaisance has over 20 years of experience in the fields of Obesity and Metabolism. He is currently Graduate Program Director of the Masters in Exercise Physiology and Undergraduate Honors Program Director.
Dr. Yusen Zhai is an Assistant Professor of Counseling and Director of the UAB Community Counseling Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Prior to that, he served as the lead clinic supervisor in the Edwin Herr clinic. He completed his Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at The Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on the impact of infectious diseases on mental health and well-being, social determinants of health, multicultural and social justice issues,...
Scholarship
I am passionate about wellness and health promotion, whether teaching about health issues or planning and implementing interventions to positively change health behaviors. I have performed research in the area of cardiovascular disease prevention and worksite health promotion. An avid reader on health topics, I have special interests in weight management, nutrition, physical fitness, chronic disease prevention, and integrative medicine. While working in public and community ...
Scholarship
I am fascinated by a variety of topics relevant to educational leadership, yet spend the majority of my time in research related to school law. I am particularly interested in First Amendment speech rights of employees and students, immorality, privacy, and how legislation and policies impact education systems.
Service
I provide presentations for school groups and professional associations in school law. I serve on the faculty editorial board of the Educati...
Scholarship
Most of my scholarship entails philosophical analysis of educational policy, specifically concerning ethics and epistemology as related to the emotional context of schooling and ecological issues in education.
Service
I am active in service to the SOE, the university, national professional organizations, and several local museums.
Autumn currently serves as Dean of the UAB School Of Education. She is a former biology teacher and school principal whose line of inquiry focuses on the politics of education, change, and building bridges between those who prepare school leaders and those leading school systems. She has served in the role of department chair (Virginia Commonwealth University), and founding director of the Leadership Academy at The University of Tennessee. In terms of national leadership, Autumn served as a prog...
My academic background is in health and kinesiology, more specifically exercise physiology as a primary focus. As a graduate student, my secondary focus was in biomechanics and since then have conducted several research projects related to this topic as well. I believe this additional exposure allows me to explore research questions that integrate connections between different disciplines and contribute to a wide range of research collaborations. My main line of research and expertise includes t...
Dayna Watson completed a Ph.D. in Counseling and Counselor Education from the University of Florida. She has extensive experience and training in clinical supervision and mental health counseling, specializing in counseling children, adolescents, and young adults. Dr. Watson’s clinical areas include play therapy techniques and creative interventions with children and adolescents, group therapy with young children, and cognitive therapy. Her research interests include issues of social class and p...
Scholarship
Over the years, I have explored leadership in schools in a variety of contexts. Most recently, I have examined school leaders' awareness of organizational mission, vision, values, and goals, and explored the impact these statements have on their daily practice as school leaders. I am also especially interested in the unsung and often neglected role of the assistant principal in our schools. The assistant principal's role is vital to the success of schools in terms of manager...
Dr. Dwayne White earned a PhD in Counselor Education & Supervision from Auburn University. Dr. White is a licensed professional counselor (LPC), Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), and a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC), with more than 6 years of experience aiding community and governmental organizations in counseling, advocacy, operations management, and program development and implementation. He is also a past NBCC Minority Fellowship Doctoral Fellowship recipient. His prim...
Dr. Plaisance is an Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Plaisance has over 20 years of experience in the fields of Obesity and Metabolism. He is currently Graduate Program Director of the Masters in Exercise Physiology and Undergraduate Honors Program Director.
Scholarship
My substantive research agenda focuses on cultural factors underlying leadership processes; organizational behavior from the perspective of individuals, groups and the organization as a whole; and leadership in crisis situations. Understanding the subtleties and nuances of leadership as it is exercised by the prevalent culture, subculture, and counter-culture provides perspective on emerging social structures within organizations. As a former resident of the Mississippi Gulf...
Glenda R. Elliott, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, is Associate Professor Emerita of the UAB Counselor Education program. She served on the faculty from 1973 to 1994 and continued to teach as an adjunct until 2000. A charter member of Zeta Chapter, she also served as a faculty advisor. She is a licensed professional counselor, certified counselor supervisor, national certified counselor, and educational consultant. The former Coordinator of Training for the UAB Safe Zone program (2001-2012) and co-founder of t...
Scholarship
My current research is directed towards developing nutritional and behavioral strategies that can reduce the prevalence of metabolic and cardiovascular complications that are associated with type 2 diabetes. I am specifically interested in the mechanistic role through which mitochondrial bioenergetics and redox signaling influence the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and associated comorbidities.
Service
I am an active member of the American College of Sport...
Scholarship
As a qualitative and mixed methods methodologist, I have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of research pursuits across the Department of Human Studies and School of Education through colleagues and student dissertation work. My personal scholarship work stems from my background in sociocultural and international education development and evaluation and focuses on the cultural elements of the research process, specifically collaborative research strategies, dec...
Kristi S. Menear’s professional disciplinary background is in special education and adapted physical education. As chair of the Department of Human Studies in the School of Education at UAB, she supports the work of 30 faculty and over 850 students in the following program areas: counselor education, educational foundations, educational leadership, educational psychology and research, community health and human services, physical education, and fitness leadership/exercise science. She is a forme...
Scholarship
In research and information dissemination, my role is to address the areas of health promotion and health services. My research interests include: health disparities, health communication, and health and human services utilization. In this work, I examine pathways to building health equity in communities, the process to disseminating health information and behavior change within segments of the population, and work to mediate factors that influence access and quality of heal...
Scholarship
Scholarly work is attained through a variety of mechanisms (publications, presentation, and grants) and this work requires much time and dedication; however there are always new opportunities that keep the pursuits of collaborative endeavors fresh and rewarding. I enjoy working with diverse colleagues and on a variety of topics related to health behaviors.
Service
Service to profession of health education and to services of others must be at the forefront o...
Scholarship
I have recently published in ASCA's School Counselor and have submitted a proposal to the American Counseling Association for published a third edited book entitled, "Critical Incidents in School Counseling."
Service
I am involved in the CEP's Study Away program, "A Counselor's View of Italy," and am involved in international activities; I just rotated off the Chi Sigma Iota national board as its treasurer; I just completed my rotation (2010 - 13) as Edito...
Dr. Mary Ann Bodine Al-Sharif currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education at UAB. She completed her B.A. in Religious Studies at Randall University, M.A. in English at the University of Central Oklahoma, and M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Adult and Higher Education at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Bodine Al-Sharif has worked in higher education for over 11 years as both a faculty member and student affairs and services administrator. She served as a Social Jus...
Scholarship
My primary scholarship interests focus broadly on seeing young female students provided with the opportunities and knowledge necessary in order for them to succeed in the 21st century and beyond. More specifically, I am working to build a bridge between K-12 and informal learning environments through higher education pre-service education and research resulting in stronger collaborations, better communications and resources to encourage girls in mathematics and science endea...
PROFILE: Twenty years of higher education experience from student affairs and international education to administration. Responsibilities have included:
• Project management and coordination across multiple campus entities
• Strategic planning, risk assessment, emergency response
• Communications planning & implementation
• Policy & procedural review, implementation, and enforcement
• Logistical & event planning & execution
• Programmatic evaluation & assessment
• Em...
I have a broad background in health and physical activity, with training in health education, exercise science and nutrition. I have worked with school systems over the past 15 years to implement interventions to improve health and wellness among the student population. My research and resulting presentations and publications have focused primarily on youth and schools related to nutrition, physical activity and wellness. I have also assisted in the development of state policies outlining improv...
Service
Believing that knowledge and abilities should be shared, I typically spend 5 – 8 weeks each summer in Obuasi, Ghana in Africa. There I teach professional development with local teachers, write curriculum for the schools to use and spend days teaching within a variety of schools. When possible, I allow students to join me on the adventure.
Scholarship
I love sharing my passion about my profession. I do this through my writing and through speaking opportunities. I co-authored a Human Kinetics book that focuses on integrating physical education and health education into the classroom. We are now in the process of a second edition of the book. I have also published 19 refereed national journal articles, 10 refereed state level journal articles, 4 refereed nationally published professional documents and 1 reviewed state level gove...
Scholarship
I typically serve as a methodologist or statistician on research projects. This allows me to study issues related to K-12 education, higher education, health, dementia, and training in various fields including defense and engineering. My other research interests relate to grading, systems theory, and autism.
Service
I provide service to professional groups at local, state, and national levels in areas that typically relate to my background in measurement, e...
Dr. Shannon McCarthy earned a PhD in Counseling and Counselor Education from University of Florida. Dr. McCarthy has had extensive training and clinical experience in counseling in community mental health and medical settings as well as marriage and family therapy. Her research focuses on family, school, and community engagement, improvement of family systems training for school counselors and other school-based personnel, the intersection of family systems and health, and qualitative methodolo...
Dr. Tondra L. Loder-Jackson holds a primary appointment as professor of educational foundations in the UAB School of Education, where she helped to establish and formerly directed the UAB Center for Urban Education. She also holds secondary appointments in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences as a professor in the African American Studies Program and the Department of History, as well as, a senior faculty associate in the Institute for Human Rights. She has worked on anti-poverty, anti-discrimin...
Dr. Yusen Zhai is an Assistant Professor of Counseling and Director of the UAB Community Counseling Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Prior to that, he served as the lead clinic supervisor in the Edwin Herr clinic. He completed his Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at The Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on the impact of infectious diseases on mental health and well-being, social determinants of health, multicultural and social justice issues,...
John Dantzler is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, the Vice Chair of Substance Abuse Programs, and the Executive Director of the Beacon Recovery and Community Justice programs. Beacon Recovery is UAB's substance use treatment program dedicated to serving uninsured and under insured individuals in an outpatient setting. The UAB Community Justice programs (AKA TASC) serve the Jefferson County Courts as the administrator of specialty courts (Drug Court, Mental Health Court, ...
Matthew Fifolt, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. Dr. Fifolt is Principal Investigator for the Alabama Statewide Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program; Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention (NEPQR) Program; Alabama Child Health Improvement Alliance (ACHIA); and the Alabama Center for Improving Health of People with Disabilities. Additionally, Dr. Fifolt serve...
Dr. Kimberly McCall received her B.S. Degree in Business Administration and her Masters of Public Administration from Jacksonville State University. She has previously worked with the Birmingham City Council as a Committee Assistant with primary responsibility for community engagement in the 7th District and served as Acting Executive Director for the Birmingham Cultural Arts Committee. Dr. McCall later gained employment with the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Grants Administration and a...
