Advisory Board

FIU’s Undergraduate Research Journal faculty advisors provide quality expertise within subjects in their field, professional oversight, and informed reviews all as a labor of love. Our advisory board ensures that the journal has the proficiency and experience it needs to provide promising scholars the platform to grow.

Xuan Jiang

FIUURJ Chief Editor; Assistant Director, Center for Excellence in Writing

Email: xjiang@fiu.edu

Dr. Xuan specializes in interdisciplinary collaboration, English for Academic Purpose (EAP) writing, as well as English learners’ writing. Xuan’s primary research interests lie in the area of writing studies, in particular, English for Academic Purpose writing, international students’ writing, creative and academic writing, cross-cultural contrastive rhetoric, translingualism, and writing center (WC). Her WC research interests include social justice, and mindfulness, writing tutors’ translanguaging, professional development, and well-beings. She teaches the peer-tutoring course – ENC 3491.

Vanessa Kraemer Sohan

FIUURJ Co-Chief Editor; Associate Director of the Liberal and Interdisciplinary Studies Program

Email: vsohan@fiu.edu

Dr. Sohan’s research and teaching focus on translingual and transmodal approaches to literacy practice, feminist historiography, “alternative” writing and rhetorics, and material and cultural rhetorics (particularly quilts and quiltmaking). Dr. Sohan currently serves as the associate director of the Liberal and Interdisciplinary Studies Program; is a member of committees related to the BA and MA tracks in writing and rhetoric; and is an at-large executive committee member of the Conference on College Composition and Communication Transnational Standing Group.

Amy Reid

FIUURJ Editor in Science; MARC U*STAR Senior Program Coordinator

Email: areid@fiu.edu

Amy Reid is the Senior Program Coordinator for the MARC U*STAR Program, a research fellowship funded by the National Institutes of Health to encourage students to participate in undergraduate research. Amy also serves as the Advisor to the Undergraduate Research Society (URS), a student-led society that provides guidance, instruction, and opportunities to any FIU undergraduate interested in research. During the summer, Amy coordinates the Summer Research Internship Program (SRI) that brings local high school students to campus to engage in faculty-mentored research.

Glenn Hutchinson

FIUURJ Editor in Peer Review; Director of the Center for Excellence in Writing

Email: gchutchi@fiu.edu

Glenn serves on the CASE Library Committee, CASE Steering Committee, and Faculty Senate Research, Scholarship, Creative Activities & Engagement Committee. He also writes plays and acts. Dr. Hutchinson teaches ENC4331 (Rhetoric, Writing, and Community), ENC3491 (The Processes of Writing), and other writing courses.

Glenn is completing a book about how writing faculty can be allies with immigrant students. In addition, his other projects include surveying former tutors of the FIU writing center and writing about international collaborations with other writing centers.

Allen Varela

FIUURJ Associate Editor & Faculty Liaison; Honors College Senior Coordinator of Academic Support Services

Email: alvarel@fiu.edu

Allen Varela is the Senior Coordinator of Academic Support Services of the Honors College. He received his Master of Science in Higher Education Administration, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and Minor in Criminal Justice from Florida International University. He is the Director of the Undergraduate Research at FIU (URFIU) Conference, as well as Director of the Advanced Research and Creativity in Honors Program (ARCH) and the Miami-Dade College Undergraduate Research Internship Program (MDC URIP) at FIU.

David Driesbach

FIUURJ Editor in Database & Technology; Assistant Vice President for Research and Economic Development

Email: driesbac@fiu.edu

Mr. Driesbach serves as Assistant Vice President for Research within the Office of Research and Economic Development. In this role, he oversees Research Information Systems, a team that provides consultative support to the Office of Research and Economic Development, and University Graduate School in matters related to technology and business process optimization.

Michael Sohan

FIUURJ Technical Editor; Chair of the Professional and Technical Writing Committee

Email: msohan@fiu.edu

Professor Sohan’s professional interests stem from his years writing business correspondence of various types in sales, marketing, and operations at companies based in the Midwest. He taught composition and literature courses at both the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University for many years. His area of specialization is Professional and Technical Writing and First-Year Writing. He is the chair of the Professional and Technical Writing Committee; mentor of Dual Enrollment instructors; mentor of adjuncts and teaching assistants; and member of the Assessment Committee.

Interested in Becoming a Faculty Reviewer for FIUURJ?

Faculty reviewers are essential to the FIUURJ publication process as their field expertise is required for sufficiently assessing and deciding upon the quality of submitted research. If you are interested in signing up as an FIU undergraduate journal faculty reviewer, please complete this short survey. If you have further questions or if you are interested in other roles for this journal (e.g. faculty editor, outreach liaison, etc.), please feel free to e-mail the FIU URJ committee at fiuurj@fiu.edu.