ORCA Welcomes Leadership Additions

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Office of Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) has announced several additions and changes to its leadership team, with a focus to enhance and expand the support that faculty, students, and staff receive in pursuing their intellectual and creative passions.

Three new additions are being made to ORCA, including the hiring of two new assistant vice chancellors and an ORCA director who will oversee the team responsible for sponsored programs and research.

The changes follow the recommendations of a faculty ORCA Needs Assessment committee called together in the 2019-2020 by Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Sacha Kopp. The committee, chaired by Professor Neal Grandgenett from the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, with faculty members representing all the colleges, Criss Library, and the Graduate School, recommended additional faculty and staff support in the office as well as increased representation from all the disciplines at UNO.

"The faculty greatly depend upon ORCA in supporting the research and creative activity mission of the UNO campus as operationalized by our great faculty and our host departments and colleges," said Professor Grandgenett, "The committee is appreciative that so many faculty and staff on campus thoughtfully contributed to these recommendations and that our collective recommendations were so rapidly and strategically moved upon."

All three will support the office under the leadership of Ken Bayles, Ph.D., who was officially been named Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity last summer following completion of the review.

"The addition of our two new assistant vice chancellors and director will greatly broaden ORCA’s reach into the diversity of activities conducted within the UNO campus and I am thrilled and honored to lead this great team," said Bayles.

"I’m grateful to Prof. Grandgenett and all the faculty of the review committee," Kopp said, "with their initial report, as well as service as an ongoing advisory board for ORCA, we value direction from the faculty of the campus how ORCA can best serve everyone."

The UNO campus community is encouraged to contact ORCA at any time for advice, to answer questions, or provide information on new and exciting projects that the office can help support and promote. ORCA can be reached by email at unosponpro@unomaha.edu or by phone at 402.554.2286.

Emily Wright

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Social Sciences

Emily Wright, Ph.D., joins ORCA as the new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Social Sciences. Wright is a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and also serves as associate director of the Nebraska Center for Justice Research and affiliate faculty member for the Women's and Gender Studies program at UNO. Wright, who has been at UNO since 2012, will continue in her faculty role in addition to serving as assistant vice chancellor.

Wright brings to the position a national reputation through her published and funded research in criminal justice, child welfare, and partner violence. She also has a long history of service to the university, including sitting on and chairing many thesis and dissertation committees, being a member of multiple journal editorial boards, and being an executive member of many professional boards.

Kristin Girten

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Arts and Humanities

Kristin Girten, Ph.D., joins ORCA as the new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Arts and Humanities. Her research focuses on the intersections between literature, philosophy, and science in the British Enlightenment and the twenty-first century, giving special emphasis to how women and other marginalized groups contribute to and feel the effects of such intersections. Girten, an associate professor of English since 2006, will be taking on the new role in addition to her responsibilities as a faculty member.

In joining ORCA, Girten will contribute her experience as a prolific scholar, publishing in a wide variety of journals, securing grant funding for projects across disciplines, community engagement efforts, and campus-wide service on multiple committees, review boards, faculty cohorts.

Girten and Wright will join Sara Myers, who has served as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity since 2016, in elevating ongoing projects, providing resources for new ideas, and serving as a facilitator to introduce new collaboration opportunities across colleges and units.

Tiffani Hix

Office of Research and Creative Activity Director

ORCA has also hired Tiffani Hix as Director of the Office of Research and Creative Activity, overseeing sponsored programs and grant contracting for the office.

Hix comes to UNO from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she has served as the Lead Research Business Services Specialist for the Office of Research and Economic Development since 2018. She has previous experience as a financial director and business manager in the Nebraska Department of Education and with UNL's University Libraries Dean's Office and Center for Virology.

Hix will work closely with faculty and staff to prepare and guide individuals through the grant funding process from pre-proposal steps through post-award nonfinancial functions. This will include funding from federal sources as well as local and community programs and partnerships.