Warhawk Weekly 4-14: U.S. News rankings; Day of Giving
AUM graduate programs earn national recognition in U.S. News rankings
Auburn University at Montgomery graduate programs in business and public administration earned recognition in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings, highlighting the university’s continued focus on excellence in graduate offerings.
AUM’s College of Business Master of Business Administration program ranked in the top 100 nationally, earning a No. 85 national placement in the publication’s management specialty rankings.
Within the College of Business, AUM’s graduate programs showed strength across multiple disciplines, with additional specialty recognition in information systems and accounting.
AUM also earned recognition for its Master of Public Administration program in U.S. News’ 2026 Best Public Affairs Programs rankings.
Each year, U.S. News & World Report evaluates graduate programs in disciplines such as business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing, along with specialty areas within those fields. The rankings are based on peer assessment surveys of academic leaders and, in some cases, additional quantitative measures such as placement scores, student-faculty ratios, job placement rates and other factors. For prospective students, the rankings serve as a resource when exploring graduate education options.
Warhawks unite for AUM Day of Giving
A week from now, Warhawks will come together for the 10th Annual AUM Day of Giving, the university’s online fundraising event that directly supports our students, programs, faculty and the entire AUM family.
As a member of the AUM community, you have the opportunity to support the colleges and programs that shaped your experience, invest in student projects and key priorities, and take part in exciting matching challenges.
AUM Day of Giving is April 22. No matter where you choose to give, your gift makes a lasting impact.
Celebrate Working Warhawks all week at AUM
AUM’s Career Development Center (CDC) is celebrating student employees during Working Warhawks Appreciation Week, taking place now through Friday, April 17.
Throughout the week, the glass wall adjacent to the Global Education Center will serve as a Working Warhawks Kudos Wall, where students, faculty and staff can recognize student employees by sharing notes of appreciation. Share your “kudos” by highlighting the hard work, kindness and impact of a Working Warhawk you know. Post-it notes are available in the CDC office (Taylor Center 323), or participants may bring their own.
As part of the week, the CDC will host a Working Warhawks Celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in the Goodwyn Hall Breezeway. The event will include information on finding campus jobs, the benefits of student employment and opportunities to connect with the CDC. Attendees can also enjoy food and a Polaroid photo booth with a “Proud Working Warhawk” sign.
The come-and-go event is open to all students.
COS students showcase research at symposium
Students from AUM’s College of Sciences recently presented their innovative research at the 2026 Student Research Symposium.
Hosted by the College of Sciences, the event gave the AUM community an opportunity to see student innovation in action and support the next generation of scientists. Undergraduate and graduate researchers earned awards for their oral and poster presentations.
The following student research projects received awards at COS’ 2026 Student Research Symposium:
Undergraduate Poster Presentation Awards
Undergraduate Independent
Juggling Multiple Roles: Predicting a Person’s Role-Occupancy Heterogeneity by Using A.I. Ratings of Open-Ended Questionnaire Responses
Lead Presenter: Parker Chavez
Faculty Mentor: Moses Rivera
Department: Psychology
Cadmium’s Toxic Effect on Brown Adipocyte Differentiation and Thermogenic Gene Expression
Lead Presenters: Vorrashin Souriya and Lalah Shannon
Other Author: Michkayla Prince
Faculty Mentor: David S. Ro
Departments: Biology and Environmental Science, Chemistry, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate Program
Aspects of Impulsivity and Suboptimal Choice
Lead Presenters: Jasmine Bell and Anisa Green
Other Authors: Kyammi Crawford and Emma Harrison
Faculty Mentors: Kent Bodily and Jessica Stagner Bodily
Department: Psychology
Undergraduate Oral Presentation Awards
Undergraduate Independent
Exploring Species Survival in a Spatial Model of Competing Flour Beetles
Lead Presenter: Sarah Belcher
Other Author: Levi Lowery
Faculty Mentor: Jerome Goddard II
Department: Mathematics
Synthesis of a Schiff Base of Benzoylacetone and Its Copper Complexes With Potential Biological Activity
Lead Presenter: Michael Hayden
Faculty Mentor: Steve Arnold
Department: Chemistry
Graduate Poster Presentation Awards
Graduate Independent
Extraction and Partial Purification of L-Asparaginase Produced by a Bacterial Isolate
Lead Presenter: Colby Tillman
Other Authors: Sarmila Yesmin and Sarah Folmar
Faculty Mentor: Benedict Okeke
Department: Biology and Environmental Science
A Systematic Evaluation of Protein Language Models for Structural Similarity
Lead Presenter: Priscilla Udomprasert
Other Author: Shivaram
Faculty Mentor: Sutanu Bhattacharya
Department: Computer Science
Physics-Informed and AI-Based Estimation of Spectrally Averaged Sky Radiance and Photon-Flux-to-Irradiance Ratio From Simulated Low-Spectral-Resolution Cameras
Lead Presenters: Hetul Patel and Sandeep Medepalli
Other Authors: Robert Spicer, Colby Tillman, and Sushma Vem
Faculty Mentors: Randy Russell and Olcay Kursun
Departments: Chemistry and Computer Science
Tie: Targeting ACSL6 Reduces TNBC Cell Migration and Invasion
Lead Presenter: Bailey Arant
Other Authors: Romeria Martin and Shea Thomas
Faculty Mentor: FNU Shivakant
Department: Biology and Environmental Science
Graduate Oral Presentation Awards
Graduate Independent
CS-Bot@AUM: An AI Assistant for Student Support
Lead Presenter: Shivaram
Faculty Mentors: Sutanu Bhattacharya, Olcay Kursun, Benedict Okeke, and Randy Russell
Department: Computer Science
Image-Based Classification of Cultured Fungi Using Patch-Level CNNs
Lead Presenters: Sandeep Medepalli and Cameren Cunningham
Other Author: Caitlin Cox
Faculty Mentors: Benedict Okeke and Olcay Kursun
Departments: Biology and Environmental Science and Computer Science
People’s Choice Awards
Undergraduate Course-Based
The Impact-Activation Model (I-AM): A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Development of Mental Toughness
Lead Presenter: Heaven Underwood
Faculty Mentor: Christine Garrison
Department: Psychology
Undergraduate Independent
Exploring Species Survival in a Spatial Model of Competing Flour Beetles
Lead Presenter: Sarah Belcher
Other Author: Levi Lowery
Faculty Mentor: Jerome Goddard II
Department: Mathematics
Graduate Independent
Transformation of L-Asparaginase Genes From a Trichoderma Species in Pichia pastoris Strains
Lead Presenters: Sarmila Yesmin and Oanh Nguyen
Other Authors: Laken Kay, Colby Tillman, and Sarah Folmar
Faculty Mentor: Benedict Okeke
Department: Biology and Environmental Science
Graduate Course-Based
AUM AI Housing Assistant
Lead Presenter: Chetana Varagantham
Faculty Mentor: Sutanu Bhattacharya
Department: Computer Science
Warhawk Wednesday at Whataburger supports athletics
AUM Athletics will partner with Whataburger for a Warhawk Wednesday fundraiser on April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Eastchase location.
During the event, 20% of proceeds will be donated to AUM Athletics, providing support for Warhawk student-athletes and athletic programs.
Members of the AUM community are encouraged to attend, enjoy a meal, and show their Warhawk spirit while giving back.
Breitman to present at Exchange Lunch & Learn
AUM faculty are invited to the next session of The Exchange Lunch & Learn, a monthly series hosted by the AUM Faculty Development Institute that encourages conversation and shares best practices in teaching and learning.
Flor Breitman, assistant professor of biology and environmental science, will present “Working with Peer Mentors” from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in Taylor Center 221. Her talk will highlight how peer mentors are being used to maximize student learning outcomes in courses at AUM.
The Exchange Lunch & Learn sessions offer a relaxed, conversational format for faculty to share insights on topics such as student engagement, instructional strategies and technology tools. Lunch is provided at no cost.
Get on track to become a medical laboratory scientist
Interested in a career in health care? AUM’s Medical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences program is now accepting applications to help you take the next step.
In the program, students work with experienced Medical Laboratory Science faculty to develop both skills and theory in clinical chemistry, hematology, immunohematology, and microbiology, equipping them for success as medical laboratory scientists.
Applications are open through July 1 for the program, which prepares students to become leaders in many fields, including patient diagnostics, forensic science, medical equipment development and sales, research laboratories and more.
Commemorate your commencement
Spring 2026 graduates have the opportunity to celebrate their success, leave a lasting legacy and jumpstart their alumni journey by making a class gift.
Make a gift of $20.26 to the AUM college or program of your choice, and you’ll receive an AUM Commemorative Medallion to wear at commencement. Your gift supports future Warhawks and helps position more AUM students for success.
Order your Commemorative Medallion online at aum.edu/classgift and pick up your medallion in the Taylor Center lobby from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet members of the Alumni Association team.
Learn more at www.aum.edu/classgift.
Submit your abstracts for celebration of research and creative activity
AUM’s Experiential Education and Engagement Center invites students to submit abstracts for the 2026 Celebration of Research, Creative Activity, and Community Engagement.
Submissions may include research or creative activity projects completed in collaboration with faculty or through coursework. Undergraduate and graduate students across all departments and colleges are encouraged to submit their abstracts. Submit your abstracts through April 17.
The Celebration of Research, Creative Activity, and Community Engagement awards ceremony will be held from 8:30 a.m.-noon Friday, April 24, in Taylor Center 230, followed by student research poster presentations in the Goodwyn Hall Lobby.
Earn a Graduate Study Merit Scholarship
If you’re a current graduate student who has completed at least nine course hours and possess a GPA of 3.4 or better, you may be eligible to receive the 2026-2027 Graduate Study Merit Scholarship offered by the AUM Alumni Association.
To apply for the scholarship, submit the necessary documents to [email protected] (include “Scholarship Committee, AUM Alumni Association” in the subject line) by April 20 and include:
- Two letters of support, preferably from AUM faculty or staff (on AUM official letterhead), emphasizing leadership attributes
- A 250-word essay outlining the applicant’s educational and career objectives, academic honors/civic activities, and how the award will benefit them.
- A current resume
Apply and learn more about the Graduate Study Merit Scholarship.
