Undergraduate Research Initiative Welcomes Students With Hearing Loss

July 8, 2024 by ljudy@utk.edu

by Amy Beth Miller

About three dozen students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) have conducted research in recent years through the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 

Professor Gladys Alexandre has been working with DHH students since 2016, and the effort has expanded to other labs.

“We have training and mentoring for all advisors, and this helps promote the Deaf culture in the hearing community and better prepare diverse scientists to host these underrepresented individuals,” said Alexandre, now BCMB department head. “We are helping the campus to become more welcoming to DHH students.”

Recruiting

Alexandre was director of the Program for Excellence and Equity in Research (PEER), which focuses on recruiting and training underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. “There are many pools of talents that have not been fully tapped for the benefits of our society, and in my case, research, DHH students represent such an overlooked pool of talents,” she said.

The director of the UT Center on Deafness, David Smith, connected Alexandre with colleagues from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology (NTID/RIT), where she started recruiting undergraduate students as a pilot. Since then, BCMB Professors Tessa (Burch-Smith) Calhoun, Liz Howell, and Dan Roberts also have hosted students from NTID during the summer.

Data from those experiences helped BCMB receive its first National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) award in 2019 under Roberts, who is now retired. Professor Elena Shpak received a 2023 NSF REU award to continue BCMB’s efforts through summer 2026. 

Alexandre also has budgeted funding from her own NSF awards to train DHH students in research every summer.

One of the first graduate students Alexandre recruited from NTID/RIT was Amie Fornah Sankoh, whose PhD from BCMB in 2023 made her the first deaf Black woman to earn a STEM doctorate in the United States, according to Chemistry World.

BCMB also recruits DHH students through colleagues at Gallaudet and other universities, plus it is on an NSF REU site that prospective students can consult to find research opportunities.

Rethinking communication

Alexandre did not have previous experience with a person who has hearing loss but said communicating was not as challenging as she anticipated. “It simply needs to slow down and to be as clear as possible,” she said. “We use writing, a few ASL [American Sign Language] signs we know, [PowerPoint] captions, and ASL interpreters to communicate.”

“Being flexible and open-minded goes a long way to effectively communicate with DHH individuals,” she said. “This is also not a heterogenous group: Some students sign, some don’t, some can lip-read, many can’t.”

Each lab’s principal investigator and in-lab mentor—a graduate student or post-doctoral researcher—completes online training through Project Access (For Educators) on understanding hearing loss and improving communication. “We then have a meeting where we discuss expectations and how to set up the projects for success,” Alexandre said. “We specifically discuss what worked and didn’t work so that we can improve every year.”

“We also ask that the lab writes detailed protocols and provide them in advance and then demonstrate them,” she said, noting that advance access is critical for the students who are deaf or hard of hearing to have time to become familiar with the material.

“As long as I am funded, I will continue this effort,” Alexandre said. “It is transformative for all involved, and it definitely enhances communication between the lab members. Taking the time to explain difficult concepts using a variety of approaches is incredibly effective, but it takes a lot more time.”

She noted that clearer nonverbal communication also benefits individuals who are not deaf but may have difficulty hearing. 

BCMB’s efforts to improve diversity and create a welcoming community are receiving recognition. Alexandre received the 2019 American Society for Microbiology William A. Hinton Award for the Advancement of a Diverse Community of Microbiologists and a 2022 NTID Co-op and Career Center Outstanding Employer Partner Award.

Cheryl Hodge Retires after 45 Years at UT

July 2, 2024 by ljudy@utk.edu

by Amy Beth Miller

Cheryl Hodge laughed when she received her first paycheck from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1979. “The silly thing said that I would be eligible for retirement in the year 2021,” she said, and that date was so far in the future she couldn’t imagine it. 

Hodge stayed even longer, retiring at the end of June as an administrative specialist in the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB).

She started in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, going on to work in the School of Art and in Human Resources as well.

“It is great that her 45-year career at UT allowed her to connect to people and programs as she served the university,” said Beauvais Lyons, divisional dean for arts and humanities and Chancellor’s Professor of Art. “The School of Art faculty and staff adored Cheryl during the decade she worked with us.”  

‘Everything changes’ 

When Hodge started her career, parking on the UT campus was $5 a quarter and she used a manual typewriter. She recalls with excitement when she received an IBM Selectric typewriter, which allowed her to change fonts.

“Everything changes all the time,” she said of working at the university, and she had shown the flexibility to keep up. Hodge took advantage of training through UT and the International Association of Administrative Professionals, also serving in the leadership of the Knoxville chapter.   

Her first responsibility at UT was secretarial, and then she began working with graduate student records. “I was in charge of making sure they were all getting the classes they needed, and keeping all their records; and that was all on paper in filing cabinets, long before computers,” she explained. 

“I’m still very close friends with quite a few of those kids—they’re not kids,” she said with a laugh, noting they are about five years older than she is.

From there she went to the School of Art, working with hundreds of applications for each of the handful of graduate school positions, another role she loved.

Leaving her mark

While in the School of Art she became a member of a UT Employee Relations Committee (ERC). “I got really involved in the fact that this was a place where employees could voice their concerns, could ask for things they felt the university needed,” she explained.

That led to her next position, as principal secretary in UT Human Resources, working with five ERCs and the retirees’ association. “It got to a point in the mid-90s where practically everyone on campus knew my name,” she said. “I loved my years there.” 

She also left a visible impact, the traffic signal at the intersection of Pat Sumitt Drive and Volunteer Drive. After several accidents at the intersection, Hodge put the proposed signal on every committee meeting agenda for more than six years, and she went to Knoxville City Council meetings to advocate for it. 

Now every time they go to a play at the Clarence Brown Theatre, Hodge points and tells her husband, Roy, “See my light!”

What’s next?

When her position in the HR office was eliminated, Hodge found a new family of coworkers in BCMB. 

“She has a love for working with people and helping people,” said BCMB Business Manager LaShel Stevens. “She has a very caring heart.”

Hodge said while her work has been fulfilling, “in every place I’ve been, it’s the people who have kept me.” 

“Loyalty is important,” Hodge said. “Getting into a spot that means something to you and staying is important.” 

After 45 years as a UT employee, Hodge has a clear definition of what being a Volunteer means to her: “someone with a servant’s heart, someone who wants to see the people around them succeed, who wants to make sure that the folks that they work for and with—and even see around—are getting what they need.”

“It means going above and beyond whatever you’re expected to do, to do what needs to be done,” Hodge said.

She has told people that her plan for retirement is “to sit on a pillow and eat bonbons,” but she won’t laze around long. She and her husband, who retired from the UT treasurer’s office in 2005, plan to volunteer at an animal shelter, travel, and take in the sights of Knoxville.

Cheryl also hopes to return to acting in community theatre productions and hiking Mt. LeConte, if she regains the memory and energy that have been lagging since she had COVID.

While she won’t be working on campus this fall, one tradition will continue. She and Roy plan to be selling candy apples this September at the Tennessee Valley Fair, where they first met.