The Professoriate
Creating Academic Excellence Through Building Community
Volume 1: Issue 3-November 2013
Message
from the provost
Hello, Ashford Faculty!
Message
from the vice provost
The Professoriate Is A Proverbial Village
by Dr. Anthony Culpepper, Vice Provost and Professor
The theme of this issue of The
Dr. Lorraine Williams
tell you how pleased I am
I tocannot
serve as the Provost at Ashford
University, especially right now.
At this moment in time, we are
poised to continue on our upward
trajectory after securing the WASC
accreditation and need to share more
broadly about all of the great things
that our faculty is doing to ensure
student success.
I have become more and more
excited as I learn about the ways in
which our faculty is communicating,
getting to know one another and
forming communities of practice
whether off site, or in San Diego,
in Iowa, or in Denver. The work
done by faculty to re-create our
faculty governance system is to be
commended. Most importantly, I
want to congratulate all faculty for
the work that you do every day to
ensure commitment to living our
mission.
Please reach out to me with your
thoughts and ideas about how to
continue to make Ashford an even
better place for us and for our
students. I am so honored to serve
you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lorraine Williams, Provost
environment is the byproduct
Professoriate is “Creating Academic
of Scholarship of Teaching and
Excellence Through Building
Learning (SoTL). Boyer coined the
Community.” Your question may
SoTL phrase in the early 90s with
be what is meant by the phrase
much confusion about its meaning
“Building Community”? There is a
following its introduction to the
popular proverb that
academy.
speaks to the need
Irrespective of the
of a greater part of a
definition attributed to
population (community)
the SoTL concept, one
of people is necessary
belief was consistent;
to help raise a child.
the development of an
Perhaps you heard
effective SoTL program
the adage, “It takes a
would lead to highly
village to raise a child.”
competent FLCs and
Belief in this saying
thus, enriched academic
is not necessary to
excellence. Let’s
understand the use of
realize that academic
it as a metaphor in this
excellence is twofold;
Dr. Anthony Culpepper
editorial piece.
it is demonstrated by
If we consider academic excellence
an engaged, enthusiastic, and
to be the child, then one can easily
competent faculty, as well as a highdeduce there must be a community
performing student population. Let’s
engaged in helping it mature. Thus,
build a great village so that we may
academic excellence does not come
have an outstanding student body!
by happenstance; it is organically
Please join me in the QUAD
and intentionally developed by the
to discuss our Faculty Learning
community that nurtures it. Arguably, Community; Ashford Scholars; cut
each member of Ashford University
and paste the link below. See you in
has some part in the development of
the Quad!
academic excellence, yet without a
doubt the faculty plays a key role in
https://quad.bpiedu.com/community/
its achievement. The Faculty Learning
ashford-faculty-community/office-ofCommunity (FLC) that consists of
the-provost/blog/2013/09/16/ashfordfaculty with various backgrounds and
scholars--charter
knowledge resources becomes then
the cornerstone, foundation, pillar
upon which academic excellence
is grown. The intentionality of
this growth is nurtured through
collaboration and investigation that
is diverse in and inclusive of varying
perspectives. This dynamic nurturing
1
Office of Assessment Strategies & Instructional Systems (OASIS)
An Unlikely Meeting of Two Colleagues:
How Can We Involve Faculty More Deeply in Assessment?
by Lorie Townsend
Associate Faculty, College of Business
and Professional Studies
by Tricia Lawrence
Director of Online Assessment
tricia.lawrence@ashford.edu
What are the chances that, while flying
in a plane on Mother’s Day, I would learn I
am sitting next to a colleague I have never
met? Once I boarded, I headed to my seat
and next to mine was a woman that had
documents with the Ashford logo on them.
I joined AU as an associate faculty member
in July 2012, and therefore I was interested
in knowing more about her relationship
with the University–so I asked.
Tricia Lawrence introduced herself and
explained that she is the Director of Online
Assessment. Tricia was reviewing assignment rubrics for a course that was going
to begin using Waypoint. It was extremely
interesting to have Tricia walk me through
the online assessment process and all that
takes place prior to getting to me as the
instructor. I have enjoyed my experiences
thus far at AU, and my courses have been
valuable teaching and learning experiences. I find both our online classroom and
Waypoint to be user friendly.
As a result of my discussion with Tricia,
I am motivated to learn more about our
academic processes. I want to be involved
and collaborate with other faculty and
staff. Reflecting on that flight, I learned
that I want my students to be aware that
WE want our students to be successful and
we want each other to be successful. We
are capable of accomplishing success with
one another.
Meeting Lorie was such a great experience. Our conversation caused me to
reflect on the role my team has in supporting faculty and the importance of engaging
associate faculty in the practice of learning
outcomes assessment. The assessment team
is part of Ashford University’s Office of Assessment Strategies and Instructional Systems (OASIS). We partner with academic
Ashford University student at
graduation.
The assessment team keeps
current about best practices in the
field by seeking out current
literature.
leadership and faculty and encourage the
use of assessment results for continuous
improvement of student learning processes
related to academic planning and effectiveness.
Knowing what students learn, know,
and can do is of great interest to all of us,
and my team is proud of the role we have
in providing faculty the tools and information necessary to positively impact student
achievement.
The assessment team keeps current
about best practices in the field by seeking out current literature on research and
methodology. One article we recently
read was Pat Hutchings’, “Opening Doors
to Faculty Involvement in Assessment”.
My chance meeting with Lorie, as well as
Hutching’s article, underscore the importance of promoting faculty-wide participation in learning outcomes assessment.
The assessment team and the faculty-led
assessment committees are engaged in
planning initiatives that include participation of both full-time and part-time faculty
in the learning outcomes assessment process. This involvement will lead to greater
awareness and intentionality relative to
teaching and learning.
This article is only one of the assessment team’s resources contributing to the
development of a plan to better engage
both full-time and part-time faculty in the
learning outcomes assessment process.
Please visit our assessment website at
assessment.ashford.edu/ and spend some
time perusing the information. I invite
you to specifically look at our program assessment data located under the Assessing
Student Success link. Chairs and faculty for
each program engage in annual program
assessment planning, which includes curriculum mapping, identifying direct and
indirect measures to assess program learning outcomes, data-driven action planning,
and perhaps most importantly, closing
the loop. Data gathered from key assignments that have been identified as direct
measures come from Waypoint. Waypoint
provides us with the unique ability to
disaggregate rubric content criteria by
course, program, and institutional outcomes. Many of you have supported our
Waypoint implementation efforts by creating Waypoint rubrics and by providing us
with valuable data when evaluating student
work—as of May 29, 2013, my team can
pull 92 million records from Waypoint!
I invite you to contact me with any
ideas you have about how we can more
effectively engage each of you in learning
outcomes assessment. I look forward to
our future collaborations!
Read Hutchings article at: http://learningoutcomesassessment.
org/documents/PatHutchings.pdf
Hutchings, P. (2010). Opening doors to
faculty involvement in assessment (NILOA
Occasional Paper No.4). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University,
National Institute for Learning Outcomes
Assessment.
2
office of research and library sciences
A Moment with an Ashford Web Services & Technologies Librarian
By Mike Cendejas
Hello! My name is Mike Cendejas, and
I am the Web Services & Technologies
librarian here at Ashford University.
I graduated from UCLA in 2009
with a Master’s Degree in Library
Science and have worked in academic
libraries consistently since I began
my undergraduate studies in 2003
at Point Loma Nazarene University.
As the Web Services & Technologies
Librarian here at Ashford, my primary
focus is to implement and innovate
technological solutions within the
library. One of my first tasks after
I arrived here at Ashford was to
lead the development of the library
website, which before had existed as
a simple course in eCollege. When
the site launched in February 2012,
it marked a new era for the Ashford
University Library, an era that allowed
the library to offer unprecedented
services and resources to students,
particularly our chat service, which
launched at the same time as the
website. Since the launch of the site,
I’ve been able to continue to manage
and improve the site both in terms
of content and architecture, all in
an effort to give students the best
possible library experience. Two of
these improvements are the addition
of Subject Guides and the FindIt@AU
search service.
Subject Guides are subject-specific
collections of resources, both within
the library and external on the web,
which students and faculty can use in
order to find resources on a topic. In
order to provide maximum flexibility
for the librarians to create these
guides, as well as for students to be
able to access the content seamlessly,
we implemented LibGuides CMS,
which is a content management system
that is highly regarded throughout the
library field. I customized the product
to fit the look-and-feel of our existing
sites for maximum effectiveness, and
worked hard to ensure there were no
authentication roadblocks for students
when using the guides.
FindIt@AU, the Library’s latest
innovation, was implemented to
respond to student wishes that
there be a single search box to use,
rather than going into each database
to do a search. For the most part,
FindIt@AU resolves this issue, as
it searches across the vast majority
of our collections, in particular
EBSCOhost, JSTOR, Project Muse, and
about 90% of ProQuest. We worked
tirelessly to implement this product,
working closely with the vendor
and customizing the service to meet
the needs of our students, including
designing the single search box that
appears on the library website today.
The library has come a long way
since I joined in July of 2011, and the
future is still bright. We have quite
a few projects in the works. One of
these includes adding a knowledge
base service that will allow students
to get answers to their questions in
real time whenever they need them,
even times when the library is closed.
Another project is implementing
an interlibrary loan service that
will streamline the interlibrary loan
process, which will make turn-around
times quicker and allow the library to
provide even more resources to our
students and faculty.
In addition to implementing
the technology solutions outlined
above, the library plays a critical
role in providing research assistance
and instruction to students, and
collaborating with faculty to ensure
student learning. Our team of
librarians interacts with students via
phone, live chat and email on a daily
basis. We teach students research
techniques and help them find
scholarly resources for their courses
within the library’s collections and
from outside web sources. The
librarians also create tutorials to
teach information literacy concepts
to students, and work closely with
faculty to embed these instructional
materials in the curriculum,
particularly within entry-point
courses. In addition, we serve as
liaisons to the Ashford colleges and
provide curriculum development
support, give library orientations
to new faculty, present at Faculty
Forums, and work closely with
faculty on collection development
activities, such as the evaluation of
digital information resources for
courses.
All of the library’s technology
initiatives, direct support of
students, and collaboration with
faculty contribute to student success
and retention at Ashford University,
and we intend to keep our focus in
these areas going forward.
Ashford University students on campus during graduation.
3
Forbes School of business
Introducing the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning: The College
of Business & Professional Studies (now The Forbes School of Business)
by Dr. Michael Reilly, Executive Dean
area-specific faculty forums hosted by
Opportunities to collaborate and
communicate with your fellow faculty full-time faculty. These online faculty
members have just been exponentially forums are not only useful in the
sharing of information, but essential
increased. With the assistance
in connecting Associate Faculty to
from the Faculty Development
the college and faculty governance
team, Dr. Patricia A. Ryan (Associate
process. They also allow for faculty
Dean) and Lauren Sholes (Senior
who teach in similar
Administrative
and
Assistant) from the
These online forums allow programs
courses to engage in
College of Business
for faculty who teach in
discussions about
and Professional
similar
programs and courses the curriculum.
Studies (CB&PS),
to engage in discussions
Thoughts, ideas, and
created the
recommendations
College’s space
about the curriculum.
that result from these
in the Center
discussions are then implemented
for Excellence in Teaching and
or forwarded to the Academic
Learning (CETL). The space consists
Department Chairs and the rest of
of an Executive Dean’s welcome and
the college leadership for further
landing page with deeper layers
consideration. The Academic
of Faculty and Graduate Studies
Department Chairs for each content
and Curriculum–all specific to the
area also hold weekly meetings with
College of Business. In addition to the
their full-time faculty. These meetings
Leadership Team display, Academic
are where the majority of the faculty
Department Chairs and their content
governance for the college occurs.
areas are highlighted
Finally, the CB&PS has monthly
with space allocated for content
college meetings in which the college
specific discussions with faculty.
Resources include the College’s
Organization Chart, Faculty
Governance Structure, Faculty
Resource documents, and much
more!
This new CB&PS CETL
space can be accessed by fulltime faculty as well as Associate
Faculty. The college hopes that
the faculty will use this resource
to inform themselves on the
characteristics of the CB&PS,
including the way it is organized
and its numerous teaching,
curricular, and research activities.
We believe that transparency
and regular communication with
faculty, remote and resident, foster
a sense of community that can
elevate faculty satisfaction and
performance. This new CB&PS
CETL space supports this goal and
is a complement to other current
information sharing initiatives. The
latter include quarterly content
leadership reports on the state of the
college and faculty present and submit
proposals for discussion and approval
by the college.
The CB&PS is continually striving
to improve its communication
channels that span across 24 programs
and roughly 942 faculty. The
CB&PS CETL space is the colleges’
most recent effort to ensure all faculty
have access to general information
they need to engage in the
management of the curriculum,
scholarship, and faculty governance.
The space was launched in late
August with all Associate Faculties
receiving a welcome e-mail from the
Executive Dean and credentials to
join the discussion. In its short tenure,
347 faculty members have visited the
site with many participating in the
ongoing discussions for a response
rate of 42%–a marketer’s dream! We
look forward to seeing you in the
CETL.
4
College of Health, Human Services, and Science
The CoHHSS is Building Community
Through Faculty Interest Groups and Student Organizations
by Dr. Pamela Vincent, Assistant Professor of Psychology
The College of Health, Human
Services, and Science (CoHHSS) is hard
at work creating academic excellence
by building community. One way in
which faculty and staff are emphasizing
community is with new specialized faculty
forums in the Center for Excellence in
Teaching & Learning (CETL). These
forums, called “Faculty Interest Groups,”
cover varying topics so that faculty
members (remote, on-location, part-time,
full-time) can come together to discuss
similar interests, create standardized
documents, share ideas and best practices,
and improve overall communication.
Among the faculty interest groups
currently active in the CETL are “The
Brain Cave,” “Developmental
Psychology Group,” and “Motivation.”
All groups are looking for new members!
Additionally, within the Applied
Behavior Sciences department and the
Health Administration department, new
documents are often posted on respective
CETL websites encouraging faculty
to become educated on professional
organizations, conferences, and other
exciting news.
The CoHHSS is also working to
improve the community between faculty
and students by organizing new student
groups. Stephen Brewer led the charge in
creating a Psychology club for students on
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), in which
he now serves as club advisor.
Faculty are encouraged to go to the
LinkedIn website and join this group. The
club has chosen its five student officers
and they are already off and running with
new ideas. Trevor Belcher recently held a
roundtable in which faculty and students
could come with topics of interest and
questions, and it was so successful
that the chat area reached maximum
capacity. More roundtables are being
planned, and faculty and students will be
receiving invitations to these and other
group events in the future. Be on the
lookout for more information on groups
and organizations to join and interact
within the CoHHSS over the next several
months!
Tips to Engage Students
by Dr. Pamela Hardy
Adult Development Program Chair
• Make opportunities for students to share, revise, and celebrate one another’s achievements.
• Utilize real world applications.
• Share real-life scenarios and stories to relate to students.
• Empower students to present and demonstrate.
• Engage students in collaborative activities.
• Apply something of your students’ interests to the material and engage them in conversation.
5
College of liberal arts
The New Writing Center
by Dr. Emily Nye
The goal of the new Ashford Writing
Center (AWC) is to help students succeed
in college by becoming stronger writers.
They succeed because writing is a tool
for learning. Effective college learning
requires that students understand and
analyze ideas, and that they communicate
clearly through their writing. The AWC
incorporates several innovative features
that help students develop their writing
skills.
First, the new AWC is easier to access
and is more user-friendly. Students no
longer have to access the Writing Center
through Constellation. The “Writing
Resources” tab on the new AWC website
provides most of the excellent handouts
in Constellation, now available as
downloadable PDF documents. In fact,
most of the resources on the new
website are available to the public.
Another improvement is offering
tutoring for eligible Ashford students.
A staff of professional tutors (all with
backgrounds in composition instruction
who have also undergone a specially
designed online tutor training program)
offer feedback about writing strategies,
development and organization of ideas,
and correct documentation. Initially,
students in Ashford University’s
“gateway” courses (EXP 105, ENG 121
and 122, and PSY202) are eligible for
tutoring help. Live Chat is available for
quickquestions (up to 15 minutes), and
email paper review provides overall
suggestions for revising a paper draft;
however, the writing consultants
do not correct papers, assist with exams, or
discuss grades.
The AWC website includes a tab for
Faculty Resources that provides links to a
faculty referral form, instructions for how to
explain the Writing Center to students, and
a developing collection of tutorials about
writing across the curriculum ideas for any
Ashford University class.
In the future, the AWC will also offer
webinars about writing-related topics
by faculty request. These and all AWC
improvements support the university’s
belief that strong writers are more likely
to thrive in their college experience and
beyond in the world of work and civic
responsibility.
The AWC welcomes feedback email at
writing@ashford.edu.
Website: http://awc.ashford.edu
Center for Excellence in Teaching
& Learning
The College of Liberal Arts CETL (Center for Excellence
in Teaching & Learning) page will soon be going live.
This page will provide all faculty with regular updates
regarding college events and activities, as well as serve as
an informational source that will include pertinent contact
information, organizational structure, and other vital
college information. Additionally, the page will contain
links to the individual CETL program pages where faculty
can obtain further information on programmatic updates,
events, faculty forums, and more.
Ashford students at graduation in Clinton, Iowa.
6
College of liberal arts
Faculty Happenings
Anthropology
On Sept. 28, Dr. Katie Bojakowski
and Dr. Kathryn Sorensen, assistant
professors of anthropology, conducted
a webinar for anthropology majors,
focused on graduate school. The
other full-time faculty members
of the anthropology program
answered student questions on the
instant messaging function during
the webinar. Students enjoyed the
opportunity to discuss the graduate
school application process with their
professors, and the conversation
continued much longer than planned.
Dr. Janni Pedersen, assistant professor
and Chair of Cultural
Anthropology, presented at the annual
meeting of the American Society of
Primatologists in San Juan, Puerto
Rico on June 21. The talk was entitled
“Observer Influence in Primate
Communication and Social Studies:
Primatology Meets Grice.”
The Cultural Anthropology Program
released their first newsletter, intended
for both faculty and students, on July
15. It included topics such as faculty
profiles, a report from a student
presenting her Ashford University
research at a conference, faculty
publications, and, in the version sent
to faculty, teaching tips.
This summer, Dr. Katie Bojakowski,
assistant professor of anthropology,
developed the Icelandic Maritime
Heritage research initiative for the
Atlantic World Marine Archaeology
Research Institution (AMARI). The
goal of this reconnaissance project
was to establish partnerships with
museums, government institutions,
and local researchers for the long-term
heritage management of Icelandic
maritime archaeological resources.
Dr. Bojakowski hopes this initiative
will eventually lead to archaeological
surveys and excavations, as well as
provide research opportunities for
students interested in archaeology,
museum studies, historic preservation,
and cultural heritage management.
Valerie Githinji, with Todd A. Crane,
published “Compound vulnerabilities:
The intersection of climate variability
and HIV/AIDS in northwestern
Tanzania” in Weather, Climate and
Society.
Math
Dr. Martin Peisl attended the
International conference on Photonics
and Optics (SPIE) conference in
September in San Diego, CA. He also
submitted a paper called “POET
Technology” to Laser Focus Magazine.
Janice Moore was awarded the 2012
Excellence of Teaching Mathematics in
Middle Grade by Georgia Teacher of
Mathematics Conference (GTMC) for
2012-2013. She will also present at the
NAACP Back to School Boot Camp
& Parent Rally For Dekalb School
System in Georgia.
Mr. Nathan Schrenk presented a
session on Instructional Technology at
the ECPI University Faculty
Conference, and assisted with the
creation of computer-aided instruction
redesign for the developmental
mathematics program at Ferrum
College and consulted for ITT
Technical Institute in implementing
new software for mathematics
curriculum.
Stephen Gervais is presenting some
of his research on student mobility
from a spatial analytic perspective at
the 2013 California Educational
Research Association meeting this
December in Anaheim, CA.
Amit Dave is presenting a paper
at the League of Innovation
Conference, in Dallas, Texas in April
on Developmental Mathematics, as
well as presenting a paper on Algebra
and Personal Finance at the College
Reading and Learning Association
(CRLA) conference in Boston in
November 2013.
Dr. Ami Gates published in and
attended WHISPERS, an International
Conference on this topic:
“Hyperspectral Imaging and
Remote Sensing: Embedding
Multiple Instances Applications to
Hyperspectral Image
Analysis.” Dr. Gates also attended and
presented at the 2013 General
Education Conference Online on
preterm outreach methods and
attended and presented at the Kaplan
University KUV Online Educational
Conference on applications in math
and statistics on the following topic:
Hyperspectral and Optical Image
Analysis and Applications.”
Richard Smatt completed the course:
EDUC115 “How to Learn Math” at
Stanford University. This course
covered how students should be taught
mathematics with reflections from
research and practice. Some key points
of the course include: 1) mathematics
classrooms should be places where
students are given growth mindset
messages at all times…through the
ways they are grouped together, the
tasks they work on, the messages they
hear, and the assessment and grading;
and 2) mathematics classrooms should
be places where students believe.
Environmental Studies
From January to May 2013, Lisa
Whitaker completed an online theory
of stochastic signals course through
Florida Institute of Technology.
Philosophy
Justin Harrison presented at the
following: 1) the Society of Existential
and Phenomenological Theory and
Culture Conference at one of the
sessions at the Canadian Congress for
the Humanities. The paper
was entitled “Straddling Madness:
An Interpretation of Nietzschean and
Heideggerian Affirmation of Reality;”
2) the Society for Core Texts annual
conference in Gatineau, Quebec. His
paper was entitled “Why do you teach
that? – Prejudice in Assumptions about
Underprivileged Students and Core
Texts in the History of Philosophy;” 3)
the Subverting the Norm conference
where the theme was postmodern
religious and philosophical thought.
The paper was entitled “The Gods have
Flown the Earth - The Importance of
the Absence of God in Postmodern
Christianity;” 4) the Popular Culture
Association/American Culture
Association National Conference.
This conference was dedicated to the
study of popular culture and American
culture in various modalities in the
social sciences and humanities. The
paper was entitled “It is what it is you
know? A Humean and Heideggerian
Critique of Contemporary Folk
Fatalism;” and 5) the Midsouth
Philosophy Conference, Rhodes
College. This conference was a
philosophy conference that included
papers from various fields and focii
in philosophy. The paper was entitled
“Heideggerian Joy.”
7
College of liberal arts
Faculty Happenings Continued
Bradley Thames presented at the
International Society for MacIntyrean
Enquiry with the paper is entitled
“Making Something of Ourselves?
Some Puzzles with the Craftsperson
Analogy in Virtue Theory.”
Gloria Zuñiga y Postigo presented at
the Philosophy Department,
University of Calabria, Italy with a
paper entitled “Value Ontology.” She
took part in a workshop that involved
a group of philosophers mutually
working together and critiquing their
work in the field of phenomenology.
She also presented at King’s University
College, Western Ontario, with a paper
entitled “Emotion and Reason: Stein
vs. Kant on the Constitution of Moral
Value.”
English
Susan Hines presented “Open, Global,
Mobile” at the International
Conference on Online Learning in
Lake Buena Vista, FL.
Jonathan Wilson presented “The Unromantic Underbelly of a Paranormal
Romance: Darynda Jones’ Saucy Private Investigator Exposes the Fragile
American Psyche with Humor, Spunk,
and her Smokin’ Hot Ass” at the
Rocky Mountain Modern Language
Association (RM/MLA) Conference in
Vancouver, Canada.
Lisa L. Rollins, assistant professor of
communication studies/journalism,
had a column accepted for publication in the fall issue of Quill & Scroll,
a quarterly magazine for journalism
educators produced by the University
of Iowa. Rollins also contributed her
media relations/ artist relations skills
to the documentary titled “Music City
USA.” Released in July, the independent film has already received more
than five honors in “Best Director,”
“Best Cinematography” and “Best
Documentary” categories at film
festivals in Canada, Costa Rica, and
the United States. To see an interview
with the filmmaker by Rollins during
its creation, please access this link:
http://www.examiner.com/article/
examiner-chats-with-music-city-u-sacreator- about-his-locally-based-film
History
Stephanie Fink de Backer has been
invited to contribute the article “Birth
and Death” to the forthcoming publication A Companion to the Spanish
Renaissance, a volume commissioned
by the Renaissance Society of America
for their prize-winning Texts and
Studies Series, published by Brill. This
volume is anticipated to become a
foremost research tool in the field, as
it assembles leading scholars in the
fields of early modern Spanish literature, history, religious studies, philosophy, and art history.
Grant Jones published a paper on the
Papuan/Buna Campaign of 1942 in the
October 2013 issue of War & Society.
Peter Milich attended the 6th International Hilandar Conference at Ohio
State University from July 19-21, 2013.
He will also present at the Central
Slavic Conference: Saint Louis University November 9-11, 2013 with a
paper on the Balkan origins of WW
II, utilizing information gleaned from
the diplomatic papers of Constantin
Fotitch. He will co-present a paper on
the Balkan Wars with Sarah Wion, a
former graduate student who wrote
her MA thesis under his direction.
Cheryl Lemus will present at the Social Science History Association
Conference from November 21-24,
2013 with a paper entitled “Creating
the Modern Pregnant Woman, 18761926” on the panel title “Struggles
Over the Medical Management, 18701940.”
Gloria-Yvonne Williams had a
chapter entitled “Mary McLeod
Bethune, the National Council of
Negro Women, and the Prewar Push
for Equal Opportunity in Defense
Jobs” published in The Economic Civil
Rights Movement: African Americans
and the Struggle for Economic Power.
Her chapter covers Black women’s
social movement activism across
race and bureaucracy on the cusp
of our entry into World War II, and
their participation in the “March On
Washington Movement” led by A.
Philip Randolph.
Faculty and staff from the College of Liberal Arts at this year’s commencement ceremony.
From left to right - Drs. Paula Battistelli, Shel Silver, Jean Gabriel Jolivet, Suzanne Power,
Mingzhen Bao and Lane Andrew
College of Education
Faculty Happenings
COE Faculty Develop an Internal
MOOC
Drs. Andrew Shean, Iris Lafferty,
Joanna Savarese, Jeff Hall, and Mr.
Mike Kolodziej
With support from a University
Faculty Fellows Grant, Drs. Shean,
Lafferty, Savarese, and Hall and
Mr. Kolodziej are developing
an Internal MOOC (iMOOC),
specifically designed to enhance the
understanding of individual learner
attributes, environmental space,
and practical brain-based learning
techniques related to online learner
success at Ashford University.
Strongly anchored in learning theory,
this pilot study will focus on AU
Freshmen in the Orientation course—
tracking persistence through their next
three classes, academic performance,
and other qualitative measures. As one
of the first MOOCs in the field directed
at persistence and retention, this
study should help us to understand
how we can use innovative learning
approaches to support student success.
APA Lecture to be Added to COE
Courses
Dr. Stefanie Lassitter
Dr. Lassitter developed an APA
lecture, “APA Made Easy!” as an
initiative to improve our students’
ability to use proper APA formatting
in their work. The web-based
layout consists of four tabs for easy
navigation, and includes guidance
on formatting, in-text citations,
referencing, and peer-reviewed
sources. The lecture will pilot in the
following online courses that begin
on 11/26: EDU 650, EDU 648, EDU
649, EDU 645, EDU 620, EDU 639, and
ECE 601 before rolling out in all online
COE courses. “APA Made Easy!” will
be located in the left navigation of the
course under the Learning Resources
tab.
MA in Education Degree Program
Pilots a New Course Design
Dr. Gina Warren
The MA in Education degree program
in the College of Education is piloting
a new course-design process with
eight courses. The process in the
new Course Design Guide ensures
that MAED courses are developed
with outcomes-driven learning
opportunities derived from clarifying
learning expectations, constructing
meaningful assessments, and crafting
supporting, innovative, and effective
learning activities that empower
and engage learners and faculty
throughout the course experience.
The course pilot will run until January.
Re-Developed EXP105 Course Fosters
Deeper Understanding of Adult
Learning
Dr. Jeff Hall
A completely revamped EXP 105
course debuted on Sept. 3, 2013.
Based on the Let Me Learn Process,
the new course is designed to guide
adult learners entering Ashford
University’s undergraduate degree
programs in exploring important
elements of success in their academic
programs and professional careers.
The goal of the new course is to
develop intentional learners and is
based on the belief that learning is a
personal, individual, and interactive
process. Through the process of selfassessment and reflective practice,
students have the opportunity to
develop a deep understanding of
themselves as a learner, and use that
understanding to develop effective
strategies for success in the workplace,
classroom, and in everyday life. A
new textbook, Intentional Learning
for College Success, was authored for
the new course and was written in
collaboration with Ashford’s full-time
EXP 105 faculty.
COE Publications & Presentations
Dr. Alan Belcher presented
“Indicators of Student (and Faculty)
Success: Assessment in Online
Education” at the annual conference
of the Carolinas Communication
Association (Charlotte, NC). The
conference theme was “Civility in
the Classroom,” and Dr. Belcher’s
presentation was part of a panel
discussing “A Civil Approach to
Online Education: Strategies for
Success.”
Dr. Carl Beyer authored “Comparing
and Contrasting the Education
of Native Americans and Native
Hawaiians” for the Organization of
Education Historians (Chicago, IL).
This paper is primarily a detailed
investigation of education for
Native Hawaiians during the 19th
century. However, it is important
to demonstrate that America’s racial
policies involved common practices
across culturally diverse groups.
Thus, this article incorporates prior
studies on the education of African
Americans and Native Americans
to compare with Native Hawaiians.
Besides making this connection,
the purpose of this article is to
compare and contrast the education
during the 19th century for three
culturally diverse groups. In October,
Dr. Beyer co-paneled a workshop
at the International Society for
Exploring Teaching and Learning
Annual Conference (Orlando,
FL). The workshop discussed the
PRISM principles that guide both
the conceptual framework and the
professional development offered to
prek-12 schools at Pacific Oaks College
and the 21st century competencies of
the 4Cs (communication, creativity,
collaboration, and critical thinking)
created by the National Education
Association to provide a guide for
how educators can prepare themselves
and students for the Common Core
State Standards.
Dr. Judy Donovan co-authored the
article, “College Students’ Attitudes
toward Service Learning in Northwest
Indiana,” which appeared in The
South Shore Journal. Service learning in
higher education offers many benefits
to students and their communities.
However, university faculty
members who have incorporated
service learning activities into their
courses have encountered some
resistance from students. This study
indicated that most of the students
who participated in service learning
found educational value in the
experience and were able to find the
time needed to perform the activities.
Students’ awareness of the benefits
of service learning, as shown in this
study, suggests that university-level
students—even those who work
20-40 hours per week—may be more
willing to participate in community
engagement than university faculty
suppose.
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College of Education
Faculty Happenings Continued
Dr. Linda Ellington co-authored a
workbook for leaders, The Strategic
Leader: Bringing the Habits to Life
(Information Age Publishing).
Additionally, Dr. Ellington published
two volumes in her children’s book
series about facing bullying called
Wetlee and Friend (Florida Educa Vision
Publishing), as well as a book chapter
in International Education and the NextGeneration Workforce: Competition in the
Global Economy (IGA Global Publishing
Inc.).
Dr. Barbara M. Hall’s book review
of Student Participation in Online
Discussions: Challenges, Solutions,
and Future Research (Springer, 2012)
was published in the July issue of
The International Review of Research
in Open and Distance Learning. Her
review offered useful parameters for
application of the research interpreted
throughout the book.
Dr. Bruce A. Johnson’s book
Appreciative Andragogy: Taking the
Distance out of Distance Learning was
self-published (and is available in
paperback and eBook format for
Kindle, Nook, and Kobo devices). Dr.
Johnson’s book for online educators
takes appreciative inquiry and
translates it for use in online classes
as appreciative andragogy. This
innovative instructional strategy will
help improve students’ engagement,
motivation, and performance in the
online learning process.
Dr. Lisa Johnson’s peer-reviewed
article, “A Case of Wikis and
Contradictions: Activity Systems,
Classroom Community, and
Instructional Design for Collaborative
Online Learning,” was published
in the Association for Educational
Communications and Technology’s
Journal of Applied Instructional
Design. Additionally, Dr. Johnson
was featured in Ashford Connections
(2013) in her discussion about the
Instructional Design and Teaching
and Learning with Technology degree
programs in the College of Education
at Ashford University.
Dr. Stefanie Lassitter co-presented
“Creating Community in the Online
Diaspora” at the DLA Conference
(Jekyll Island, GA) with Dr. Lorna
Wheeler, Associate Dean of the
College of Liberal Arts at Ashford
University. The presentation
focused on methods for reducing
the psychological distance between
instructor and student in the online
modality.
Dr. Debra Lawrence authored a book,
How Public Investment Contributes to
High Quality Early Childhood Programs:
Lessons from Pennsylvania (Scholar’s
Press). Dr. Lawrence also contributed
two chapters to another book, Learning
from Head Start: A Teacher’s Guide to
School Readiness (R & L Education).
Dr. Colleen Lindecker’s (Miron)
article, “The Critical Encounter:
Facilitating Positive Parent Adaptation
to Childhood Apraxia Speech,”
was published by The Childhood
Apraxia of Speech Association of
North America. This online article
summarized for a lay audience of
parents and educators the results
of a recent study on how parents
of children with a unique speech
disorder adapt to their experience.
The somewhat surprising results of
this study indicated that despite the
overall negative experience parents
had with the educational and medical
systems, a critical positive encounter
with even one service provider
was typically influential enough to
have a significant, positive effect on
parents’ adaptation process, resulting
in healthy adjustment and parent
empowerment.
Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan’s newest
children’s book about Angel Island,
Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America
(Sleeping Bear Press, 2013), was
featured on the cover of the California
Reading Association’s California
Reader. Dr. Loh-Hagan had a peerreviewed journal article on “Paper
Son and the Common Core State
Standards” published in the same
journal.
Dr. Denise Maxwell presented “The
Power of Collaboration: Professional
Learning Communities (PLCs)” at
the Cherry Creek School District
(Greenwood Village, CO). The
presentation provided the foundation
for the “why” behind the vision of
Professional Learning Communities
(PLC) or Professional Learning
Teams (PLT) to foster effective
collaboration among educators. The
participants engaged in determining
the differences between team meetings
and professional learning community
sessions. Within the presentation,
the three critical elements that must
be present to support the successful
development and implementation of
the PLC process were examined by the
participants. Exploring the rationale
for analysis of student performance
data from common assessments
was highlighted as the focus of the
PLC work. Work session time was
facilitated for each group to craft the
group’s ideas to articulate the team’s
values and vision for the PLC process.
Drs. Denise Maxwell and Gina
Warren co-wrote “Better Together:
The Power of Community of Practice:
Building the Case,” which appeared
in Ashford University’s Forward
Thinking. Educators in any institution
and at any level, from early childhood
to post-secondary, can benefit from
collaborative interaction in which they
can learn and solve problems together.
Community of Practice (CoP)
provides a forum for professionals to
communicate about shared practice to
include common ideas, beliefs, tools,
and information to advance members’
knowledge base.
Kathie McCart highlighted the
importance of making every moment
count in her article, “What’s in Five
Minutes?” which was published in
Transformative Dialogues: Teaching &
Learning Journal.
10
Campus
College of Business & Professional Studies
Dr. Charlie Minnick participated in the IACBE Summer Institute in Olathe, KS from June 10–13.
Diane Cornilsen and Dave Ward serve as co-advisors to the PBL chapter, which had 14 members compete in the national
competition in Anaheim, CA in late June. Ashford University competitors finished in the top 10 in six different areas.
During the last week in September, a Service Trip was taken to Moore, OK.
Seventeen students and four staff members helped in areas where tornadoes caused major damage earlier this year.
College of Education
In June, Dr. Joen Larson participated in the IACTE & AACTE meetings in Washington, DC. Dr. Larson has been asked to
serve on the AACTE standing committee on governmental affairs/policy for teacher preparation.
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Gary Heath’s book review of Dan Doyle’s Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting was published in the September issue of the
Sport Literature Association’s online journal Arete. Doyle is the director of the International Institute of Sport and author of
the basketball novel An African Rebound, which Heath reviewed in the June issue of Arete. The latest review can be found
at http://www.uta.edu/english/sla/br130909.html.
Faculty and Staff
About 100 Ashford employees (from campus & online) participated in Iowa’s Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday,
October, 9th.
The College of Education faculty and staff volunteered to work at Feeding America San Diego on Oct. 29th.
From left to right – starting in the back row: Drs. Newton Miller, Jeff Hall, Andrew Shean, Rebecca Wardlow, and Steve Halfaker
Left to right-front row – Drs. Celeste Campbell, Gina Warren, Iris Lafferty, (not a Dr.) Karla Bordeleau, Drs. Nanette Schonleber,
Michelle Warn and Rhonda Welch-Scalco
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