Volume 2 (2016) Journal of Interdisciplinary Graduate Research
With this volume, The Journal of Interdisciplinary Graduate Research enters its second year of publication. From the inception, our intent has been to make this journal interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary in approach, publishing original and review papers, including literature reviews, book reviews, film reviews, position papers, empirical work, experiential reflections, and original quantitative and qualitative research. By offering graduates the chance to express their ideas to a broader audience, we seek to demonstrate the strength of graduate scholarship at Southern Adventist University and our continuing focus on academic excellence.
We believe our graduate academic journal will accomplish several worthwhile objectives: (1) offer graduate students the opportunity to express their ideas to a broader audience; (2) give evidence of the strength of graduate scholarship at our university; (3) provide an excellent opportunity for our graduate programs to be recognized while also highlighting the numerous degrees we offer; and (4) provide an opportunity for exceptional students to become published authors, thus giving them a competitive edge for future jobs and/or additional education.
Beyond Southern Adventist University, our journal is distributed to academic libraries, universities, individual subscribers, and through Knowledge Exchange, which is an online website used to collect and showcase the intellectual work of students and professors on campus to a worldwide audience. Above our expectations, both our undergraduate and graduate volumes have been accessed hundreds of thousands of times around the world. To view this journal online and previous publications of our journal, please go to knowledge.e.southern.edu.
The compilation of this journal would not have been possible without my graduate assistant, Savannah Clark. Since meeting Savannah four years ago, I have always appreciated both her intelligence and insight; two attributes that will make her an exceptional counselor. Unfortunate circumstances the summer before this publication provided yet another attribute to admire. In July, Savannah severely fractured her femur. Within two weeks of major surgery, she made her way to the computer and has worked without ceasing to assure this journal was published on time. Thank you, Savannah, for demonstrating the tenacity to not quit - to step up when even you did not have a leg to stand on. This year she has built upon past experience and has been instrumental in producing this second volume which reflects the scholarship and quality that make our university proud. As a result of dedicated work, Volume 2 was published October of 2016 and we are currently already accepting submissions for Volume 3. Thank you, Savannah, for keeping this publication on track.
Because our journal is interdisciplinary, I am afforded the special privilege of working with an outstanding editorial board that reflects the immense talent we have on our campus: Bonnie Eder, Ed.D., School of Education; Ronda Christman, Ph.D., School of Nursing; Laura Racovita-Szilagyi, Ph.D., School of Social Work; Edwin Reynolds, Ph.D., School of Religion; and Tron Wilder, Ph.D., School of Psychology. I, too, am pleased and grateful for our university, especially the School of Education and Psychology, for continued support, encouragement, and most of all the commitment to academic excellence that affords this publication.
If there is a contingent within your university that is interested in producing such a journal, our step-by-step manual would serve as an invaluable guide. I would gladly share it with you for the asking (rcoombs@southern.edu).
Robert S. Coombs, D.Min., Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief
