2024 Faculty Plans
Dr. Lori Czop Assaf
Professor, Curriculum and Instruction
College of Education
Dr. Lori Assaf will become conversant in Spanish by strategically prioritizing Spanish language learning among her other professional goals and workload with the goal of enhancing her collaboration with Latin and Central American teacher educators, researchers, and classroom teachers.
Dr. Carrie Boden
Professor, Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies
College of Applied Arts
Dr. Carrie Boden will examine post-pandemic workplace trends with a focus on their impact on organizational culture, remote work dynamics, and employee well-being.
Dr. Sarah Blue
Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Blue will develop a long-term plan that will link their teaching, advising, and professional service commitments that will define the next phase of their career. This includes teaching an undergraduate class on immigration, recruiting students and post-docs as part of their research, and using their leadership positions in their discipline to invite colleagues to give talks at Texas State, plan mini-symposiums, and give more talks to promote their research.
Jessica Bowers
Associate Professor of Instruction, Communication Disorders
College of Health Professions
Jessica Bowers plans include building cross-university and community relationships; specifically with faculty and community members that work with people with feeding and swallowing disorders. She wants to increase education for this specialized area of study and improve outcomes for underserved populations.
Dr. Tine Marie Cade
Professor, Horticulture
College of Science and Engineering
Dr. Tina Marie (Waliczek) Cade will work towards developing an on-campus internship and job training and leadership program helping to manage horticultural, conservation and sustainability initiatives on campus.
Dr. Kiyomi Sanchez-Suzuki Colegrove
Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction
College of Education
Dr. Kiyomi Sanchez-Suzuki Colegrove will organize a Bilingual Education alum group at Texas State University that seeks professional development and a networking space en comunidad.
Dr. Kristen Farris
Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies
College of Fine Arts and Communication
Dr. Farris's research project will explore how patients, families, and physicians communicatively navigate conflict, influence, and coercion surrounding medical decision-making in chronic illness contexts with the aim of sharing these findings with the community that most benefit from them.
Bethany Johnson
Associate Professor, School of Art and Design
College of Fine Arts and Communication
Professor Johnson will expand the scope of their visual art practice by developing an editioned book (an artwork that takes the form of a book). This project will weave together recent drawings, photography and creative nonfiction on the subject of extraterrestrial landscapes.
Dr. Blake Locklin
Associate Professor, Department of World Languages and Literatures
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Blake Seana Locklin will develop a proposal to submit to a university press for a monograph on the intersections of Asia and Latin America in literature.
Ms. Bobbie Moore
Professor of Instruction, Management
McCoy College of Business
Ms. Bobbie Moore will design a comprehensive internship course site featuring pre- and post-assessments and reflection assignments to evaluate the impact of internships on career readiness. Her efforts will focus on aligning academic and industry needs, attracting student participation, and fostering connections between students and organizations to enhance career preparedness and, ultimately, help students launch meaningful and successful careers.
Dr. Alexandra Perkins
Associate Professor, World Languages & Literatures
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Alexandra Perkins will create Interdisciplinary Faculty Working Groups to encourage intellectual exploration across disciplines. These groups will develop sustainable research projects, fostering long-term partnerships and new opportunities for both research and teaching.
Dr. Jennifer Porterfield
Associate Professor of Instruction, Curriculum and Instruction
College of Education
Dr. Porterfield will establish a Texas State University Special Education alumni group to foster professional networking and maintain connections with former students. The alumni group will support special educators by sharing ideas, mentoring new teachers, creating networking opportunities, celebrating achievements, offering professional development, and organizing volunteer activities.
Dr. Emily Suh
Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction
College of Education
Dr. Emily Suh will write a book exploring the theory and research behind English, Language Arts, Reading—a developmental literacy course that serves nearly 1,400 incoming Bobcats annually.
Dr. Bin Xiao
Assistant Professor of Instruction, Engineering Technology
College of Science and Engineering
Dr. Xiao’s research project aims to collaborate with a local company to develop a microscale cooling system designed for a high-performance laptop.