Faculty Fellows Program
Strengthening community-engaged research skills, developing community-engaged research projects in collaboration with community partners, and producing scholarly products
The Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program is a year-long faculty development initiative designed to cultivate interdisciplinary collaboration and deepen understanding of community engagement among faculty members at the University of Louisville. This competitive program equips faculty with the skills to conduct community-engaged research, develop impactful projects alongside community partners, and produce scholarly work that addresses critical community issues.
Fellows will receive a course buy-out to dedicate time to their research and will participate in monthly meetings, professional development sessions, and the Community-Based Learning Institute. Topics covered include community-engaged research methods, developing and sustaining partnerships, integrating community engagement into the curriculum, and leveraging media to amplify research impact. Under the leadership of Dr. Henry Cunningham, Assistant Vice President for Community-Engaged Scholarship, who is nationally recognized for his expertise in community engagement, Fellows will organize faculty dialogues, present workshops, and collaborate on campus-wide strategies to advance community-engaged scholarship. This program is open to faculty across all disciplines with a passion for community-engaged research and the desire to become leaders in community engagement pedagogy.
Henry Cunningham, Director of the Community Engagement Faculty Fellowship
Henry R. Cunningham, Ph.D. is Assistant Vice President for Community-Engaged Scholarship at the University of Louisville. He has developed programs, policies, and systems to institutionalize community engagement. He co-founded and co-directed the University of Louisville International Service Learning Program, which won two national awards from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators for the best international education program. His research focuses on university-community partnerships, the institutionalization of community engagement, faculty professional development, and the impact of community engagement. He has published numerous articles and co-edited a book on community engagement. At the national level, Dr. Cunningham has led webinars for the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC), serves on the Executive committee of ESC, co-editor for the International Journal for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement, and as a reviewer for the Carnegie classification in community engagement. He is a recipient of the Barbara A. Holland Scholar Administrator Award given by the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities.
2025 Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Cohort
Kristi M. King, Ph.D., CHES, FACSM
Kristi M. King, Ph.D., CHES, FACSM is a professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Louisville. Dr. King is the principal investigator on interdisciplinary research studies that focus on physical activity and public health. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), a Physical Activity and Public Health research fellow, an America Walks, Walking College fellow, and an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) fellow. Dr. King serves ACSM as an associate editor for ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal and as a member on the Health and Science Policy Committee.
Shelby Pumphrey, Ph.D.
Shelby Pumphrey, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Department and the Pan-African Studies Department at the University of Louisville. She is scholar of African American women’s history, and her community-engaged research focuses on reproductive justice and holistic wellness. She earned a dual Ph.D. in African American and African Studies (AAAS) and History from Michigan State University. Dr. Pumphrey is a 2025 Community Engagement Faculty Fellow and awardee of the 2025 Gheens Community Engagement Mini Grant Program both at the University of Louisville.
Cynethia Bethel-Hines, DNP, MSN, APRN, CPNP-PC, CLC
Dr. Cynethia Bethel-Hines, DNP, MSN, APRN, CPNP-PC, CLC, is an Assistant Professor at the UofL School of Nursing and Director of Community Engagement and Inclusion. She launched a nursing program for middle and high school students and practices as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Shawnee Christian Healthcare. A Louisville native, she holds a BSN from Berea College, an MSN in Pediatric Primary Care from the University of Kentucky, and a DNP from Northern Kentucky University, where she researched breastfeeding disparities. She is passionate about health equity, serving as president of the Louisville Coalition for Black Maternal Health and leading initiatives to reduce breastfeeding disparities. A nationally recognized leader, she has received multiple awards for excellence in nursing, education, and community service.
Thomas Jennings, Ph.D.
Thomas Jennings, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (CACHe) and an Associate Professor of Anthropology. Community-engaged scholarship is central to his recent work and he is involved in multiple projects. With colleagues and community partners, Jennings is documenting and striving to help mitigate necroviolence at Louisville’s historic Eastern Cemetery. At CACHe, he curates and preserves artifacts from across the Southeast and Midwest and is working with colleagues and partners in the African American heritage and Native American communities to collaboratively build a digital database of these collections. Jennings is also an expert in stone tool technology and quantitative methods and applies these to researching the archaeological record of Southeastern hunter-gatherers at the end of the Ice Age.