Five Year Achievements Morgan State University Research Magazine final.proof_MSU.research | Page 22

I
f a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, Sandra Chipungu made that step
with the support of many mentors. Dr. Chipungu is grateful to at least seven academic
professionals who recognized her caring spirit and believed in her talents. Their thoughtfulness
and frank advice made the kind of difference to her that she wants to make
for others as a teacher and researcher.
Umaru Bah
FULBRIGHT ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR:
Department of Strategic Communication,
School of Global Journalism and
Communication
EDUCATION: Ph.D. Howard University;
MA Ohio State University; BA Fourah Bay
College, University of Sierra Leone
FOUNDER/CHIEF COORDINATOR : Morgan
Open Data, an interdisciplinary initiative
to harness and apply the resources and
social benefits of big data, open data,
and social media.
I believe the world is our
classroom and we are
each other’s teachers.
Open data, social media
and online open platforms
have become gateways
to global collaborations,
particularly in education.
Dr. Chipungu’s most important research has focused on child welfare. She is especially proud of
Morgan’s role in the Title IVE Public Child Welfare Training contract. Morgan is part of the IVE
Consortium, which over the past ten years has provided over $4M in tuition benefits for graduate
students in exchange for their work in child welfare upon graduation. Title IVE Education for
Public Child Welfare Program is a federal reimbursement program that helps reduce the costs of
foster care for eligible children.
In another study, Dr. Chipungu researched the placement of foster children with relatives and
with nonrelatives. The study found that relatives who were caregivers needed more services
for their foster children but received less, and they were less likely to ask for assistance. This
outcome, among others, helped shape state and federal policies to be more child-centered and
provide more services for eligible caregivers.
Foster children face many challenges on the road to adulthood, so it’s good to have Dr. Chipungu
along as a traveling companion. Each step she takes is fueled by her passion to make a difference
for children and families.
G
lobal citizen is a good way to describe Dr. Umaru Bah, Associate Professor,
Fulbright Scholar, and passionate advocate of the uses of information/data for social
entrepreneurship, civic engagement, and sustainable development. He is founder
and chief coordinator of Morgan Open Data, an initiative to encourage and support
interdisciplinary collaboration on action-oriented applications of data in the public domain. In
this capacity, he leverages his expertise in social media applications and analytics along with
his multilingual skills to collaborate productively with people locally and globally. One of several
successful outcomes of such engagement is the official designation of Morgan State University
as an institutional partner for sustainable development in Africa and the African diaspora at the
second biennial Africa Open Data Conference held in Accra, Ghana in 2017..
Today’s generations
of students want to be
challenged, to be taught by
faculty members who are
prepared, and who have high
standards. They are fortunate
to be at Morgan, where
committed faculty engage
students at the highest levels.
Sandra Chipungu
DEPARTMENT CHAIR: PhD Department,
School of Social Work
EDUCATION: PhD, University of Michigan
School of Social Work; MSW, University
of Michigan School of Social Work;
BA, Sociology and Social Work, Morgan
State University
Dr. Bah is also an enthusiast of Big Data, a term that refers to voluminous datasets which, with
the aid of complex algorithms and artificial intelligence, are mined and analyzed to identify both
human and non-human trends, patterns, insights, and behaviors. Open data is a critical component
of Big Data. Globally accessible and often used in conjunction with online open platforms and
open source codes, open data now plays a central role in the design of services and solutions for
social entrepreneurship, community empowerment, and sustainable development. Open data
applications cover a wide range of fields and disciplines including health, education, journalism,
agriculture, nutrition, transportation, gender equality, and social justice.
RESEARCH: Principal Investigator,
Title IVE Education for Public Child Welfare
Program; Dr. Iva G. Jones Medallion Mantle
Awardee 2014–2015
Dr. Bah believes that Morgan’s se