Worldwide College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report

Grants Awarded Include: Board of Certified Safety Professionals Foundation ABET/AABI Accreditation/Re-accreditation Grant Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Faculty Research Development Program Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Undergraduate Research Collaborative Grants Program Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — Worldwide College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Startup Funds Program International Communication Association National Science Foundation U.S. Department of Homeland Security — Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the National Volunteer Firefighter Council, Dr. Billings' project has the potential to impact all 1.2 million firefighters in the United States.

Embry-Riddle Undergraduate Research Collaborative Grants Program

Our college led a winning three-campus proposal for the 2023 Embry-Riddle Undergraduate Research Collaborative Grants Program with the OPTIMIS project (“Optimizing Human Performance in the Air Transportation Sector”). This project took a systemic approach in identifying behavioral risk vulnerabilities of airport security screening checkpoints associated with human error. Additionally, in the 2024 cycle, our college is a partner in a winning proposal titled, "A User Experience Study of Writing & Communication Centers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University." Creating an effective university writing and communication center is always a highly context-driven process, guided by the varied needs of multiple stakeholders, including multilingual students, first-generation students, military students and students with disabilities, among others. This study responds to the significant need for data-driven writing and communication center research by supporting undergraduate student tutors as user experience (UX) and participatory design researchers. This cross-campus study of four faculty-directed writing/communication centers at Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach, Prescott and Worldwide Campuses supports student researchers currently employed in these centers, addressing a university goal to promote undergraduate participation in research projects. The project analyzes the user experience of each campus center, focusing primarily on the online interfaces and modalities through which students interact with their respective centers.

Dr. Joel M. Billings, assistant professor of fire and emergency services in the Department of Security and Emergency Services, was awarded an Early Career Investigator grant within the Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) FEMA, with an amount of $560,989 in federal funding. "The program provides financial assistance directly to eligible fire departments, national, regional, state, local, tribal and nonprofit organizations such as academic (e.g., universities), public health, occupational health and injury prevention institutions for fire prevention programs and supporting firefighter health and safety research and development," according to the Department of Homeland Security Notice of Funding Opportunity [NOFO] Fiscal Year 2022 Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program. Dr. Billings' project will foster collaboration with people interested in researching and contributing to improving the lives and first responder resilience of firefighters through sleep interventions. The main deliverable of this multi-year project (July 2023- June 2026) will be an updated and expanded "Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Fire Fighters and EMS Responders" guidance document published by FEMA. In producing the first, evidence-based guidance for the U.S. Fire Service to mitigate first responder sleep deprivation, working with

2023 - 2024 Annual Report | 11

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