In the Spotlight - January 2026
Welcome to In the Spotlight, a new series from the Department of Marketing and Communications designed to highlight the achievements, creativity, and leadership of DSU faculty and staff.
Whether it’s earning an award, being published in a journal or magazine, presenting at a conference, securing research funding, completing a major project, or making a meaningful impact in the community, we want to share these moments with the DSU community and beyond. Editions will be released periodically throughout the year.
Dr. Rachel Juergensen, Assistant Professor of Special Education, and Dr. Diamond Lee, a DSU alumna, recently traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, to present at the Council for Exceptional Children Teacher Education Division annual conference.
Their presentation, “Using a Historically Responsive Literacy Framework in Special Educator Preparation at HBCUs,” shared findings from a collaborative research study examining Delaware State University’s special education curriculum through the five pursuits of equity in education: identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy. The team analyzed how coursework and preparation practices align with historically responsive approaches to teaching and learning.
Dr. Juergensen and Dr. Lee plan to publish this work to support other institutions seeking to engage in collaborative curriculum analysis and equity-centered program development.
Dr. Aisha Monroe, Executive Director of Graduate Programming and Student Success, recently presented at the 2025 Hip Hop Studies Conference at Howard University. Her presentation explored how Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares (Intro)” reflects the sophomore-year college experience, using music as a framework to examine persistence, momentum, and resilience.
Drawing from her dissertation research, which included students from Division I, II, and III institutions, Dr. Monroe identified three core drivers of student persistence: teaching style as cadence, resource access as bassline, and expectation alignment as lyrical flow. Her work demonstrates how alignment among these elements supports student success, while imbalance can contribute to the sophomore slump.
Dr. Monroe also served as a session facilitator at the 2025 BlkEd Summit hosted by DE BLKEd Collab and DSU. Her session, “From Brilliance to Belonging: Reducing the Sophomore Slump through Early Action,” emphasized proactive, culturally affirming strategies that support students before challenges escalate. Her research continues to bridge scholarship, culture, and student success.
Dr. Carlos M. Rodriguez-Neira, Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for the Study of Innovation Management in the College of Business, recently published a study in the European Journal of Innovation Management titled “The Motivational Influence of Collective Efficacy and Charged Behavior and the Moderating Effect of Risk-Taking Propensity on New Product Development Team Innovativeness.”
The study examines how collective efficacy, charged behavior, and social processes influence innovation within new product development teams. Findings suggest that teams function most effectively when viewed as social systems built on interdependence, shared competencies, and collective agency.
The research highlights how affective, cognitive, and behavioral dynamics work together to cultivate motivation and drive innovation. Dr. Rodriguez-Neira is also the author of Product Design and Innovation: Analytics for Decision Making, which explores design methodologies and analytical tools essential to product development and innovation strategy.
Dr. Raymond Tutu, professor in the History, Political Science, Philosophy and Law Studies Department and IDC co-director of the Interdisciplinary Health Research Center at DSU, recently had his health literacy research featured by the Health Literacy Council of Delaware.
His work examines the relationship between health literacy and self-reported health among Delaware residents, with a focus on how people access, understand, evaluate, and use health information.
Through a partnership with 60 faith-based organizations serving primarily minority communities across the state, Dr. Tutu and his colleagues surveyed 1,095 individuals using a validated health literacy questionnaire measuring healthcare, disease prevention, and health promotion. Findings revealed that roughly half of participants had inadequate or problematic health literacy.
Many reported difficulty understanding health warnings, evaluating health information, and navigating mental health resources. The study also found a strong link between lower health literacy and poorer self-rated health.
The research was published in Discover Social Science and Health and shared with faith-based leaders during a workshop focused on results and future action. Leaders identified key priorities including improved access to health resources, expanded community health programming, and clearer communication of health information. Dr. Tutu’s work highlights the need for sustained community engagement and research to support improved health outcomes across Delaware.
To be considered for a future edition of In the Spotlight, please send a high-resolution photo and your information to enews [at] desu.edu.