IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Reich College of Education is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. James Killacky as Director of The Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership as of July 1, 2008. Dr. Killacky comes to ASU from the University of New Orleans where he coordinated doctoral level distance learning cohorts. He has also taught at NC State University. He has a Ph.D. from Harvard in Adult and Community College Education and Organization, a Master of Social Work from Washington University, and a Master of Arts in Sociology from Kansas State University. Dr. Killacky is the author of an extensive number of referred books and articles on community colleges, group work, networking and leadership. Dr. Killacky will replace Dr. Alice Phoebe Naylor, who is retiring at the end of June after nine years as Director.
Dr. Killacky will be joined in the Doctoral Program this fall by Dr. Vachel Miller, who will be the coordinator of the RCOE doctoral cohort in Hickory. Dr. Miller most recently has served as a research specialist in Uganda working to move child laborers into educational settings. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has written books and journal articles on child labor, peace education and spirituality in organizations.
CURRENT STUDENTS AND ALUMNI
Congratulations to Dr. Caimen Ruff for successfully defending her dissertation - “The Effects of Classroom Interior Design Elements on Eighth Grade Language Arts Students' Psychological Well-Being ” – on April 7th. Caimen's committee members were Dr. Margot Olson, Chair, Dr. Melanie Greene and Dr. Al Proffit.
Congratulations to Dr. Todd Powell who successfully defended his dissertation on April 10th. Todd's dissertation was entitled “Analysis of North Carolina Based Economic Factors that Accurately Explain Student Performance in North Carolina Public Schools”. Todd's Committee members were Dr. Alice Naylor, Chair, Dr. Walter Oldendorf, Honorary Chair, Dr. Philip Ardoin and Dr. Kenneth Jenkins.
Congratulations to Dr. Matt Roberts who successfully defended his dissertation on April 11th. Matt''s dissertation was entitled “Reclaiming Personal and Pedagogic Identity through Social Constructivism: An Educator's Journey and Collaboration in Family Literacy Practices ”. Matt's Committee members were Dr. Gary Moorman, Co-Chair, Dr. David Considine, Co-Chair, Dr. Walter Oldendorf and Dr. Alice Naylor.
Congratulations to Dr. Kimberly Elliott for successfully defending her dissertation - “Teacher Recruitment, Rural Schools and Student Teachers' Perceptions of Effective Teacher Recruitment Strategies in North Carolina ” – on April 17th. Kim's committee members were Dr. Sara Zimmerman, Chair, Dr. Melanie Greene and Dr. Kenneth Jenkins.
Upcoming Dissertation Defenses:
An Examination of the Impact of Relative Age at School Entry on North Carolina Students - A Predictor of Future Outcomes
| Robert Allen Murray | Dissertation Committee: |
Dr. George Olson, Chair |
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Dr. Angela Losardo |
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Dr. Al Proffit |
A Program Evaluation of the North Carolina Community College System Virtual Learning Community
Candace S. Ring |
Dissertation Committee: |
Dr. George Olson, Co-Chair |
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Dr. Richard Riedl |
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Dr. Barbara Bonham |
Early Transition from High School to College: An Ethnographic Case Study of a Rural North Carolina Community College's Obstacles and Strategies that Emerged in Providing Access to College Courses during High School Attendance
Cynthia Self Smith |
Dissertation Committee: |
Dr. Alice Naylor, Chair |
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Dr. Barbara Bonham |
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Dr. Stephen White |
Dr. Hank Weddington (Cohort 8) has been named Associate Dean for Academic Programs for the Watson School of Education at UNCW. Hank's new position will begin July 1st - Congratulations Hank!
Matt Roberts has been accepted as an assistant professor at King's College in Bristol, TN. Matt will be defending his dissertation on April 11th.
Recent graduates of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership were honored with a luncheon immediately following graduation ceremonies on December 16, 2007. Almost 60 faculty and family members were in attendance along with Drs. Alice Krueger, Mary Stephens, Kim Gold, Ab Senbel, Bricca Sweet, Vickie Hugger, and Susan Walker.
Dr. Kim Gold writes “I began 2008 not knowing how to handle the lack of deadlines and not having to push other projects in my life to the side. Over the Christmas holidays I sorted all the pictures of my family that I had stashed in a box for the past six years, I painted a bathroom and began painting in a second. All of these were projects that I had refused to think about before because I knew I would never have time to finish them. I also took a trip to the beach with friends just for fun. It is good that I never realized before how nice this is because I might have given up years ago! I have also been able to tackle projects at work that I had pushed aside and it has been quite a relief to finally have the time to think about other things. Having said all of this, I am very glad that I went through this program, and, while it is very nice to have a little time on my hands, I do miss interacting with my cohort and my dissertation committee.”
Lisa Moody (Cohort 15) reports “I am currently teaching 7th and 8th grade
Language Arts, and 7th grade science. I just bought myself a car - used but new
to me - an Audi TT quatro. I have managed to drive it without a speeding ticket
so far. It is amazing and I love to 'punch' the accelerator so that the twin
turbos kick in and push me back in the seat. My students think it is the coolest
car ever, and it has generated much talk (and writing) around our school.”
A colloquium on Internships of Doctoral Students was held at the Faye Broyhill Building at Caldwell Community College in Hudson on November 19, 2007. Todd Martin (Cohort 11), Jan Overman (Cohort 13), and Betsy Ray (Cohort 13) presented an overview of their internship experiences and results.
Dr. Wanda Hutchinson is now Associate Superintendent of Schools in Wilkes County. Bravo, Wanda!
Congratulations to Van Wilson (Cohort 12). Van is the new Associate Vice President of Academic and Student Services for the North Carolina Community College System. He says, “In my new role I will work with all aspects of Student Services for the system, the state board of community colleges, the state department of public instruction, UNC General Administration, CFNC, and the states independent colleges and universities.” Van assumed his new duties in January, 2008. Prior to this appointment, he was Vice President for Student Services at Forsyth Technical Community College.
Doctoral students have been well represented in the ASU Graduate Student Association Senate. Caimen Ruff (Cohort 13) served as the GSAS Senator from the Doctoral Program until November, 2007 and Todd Powell (Cohort 13) just completed a term as President of the organization in December. He reports that “One of the main accomplishments was a resolution in support of the new College of Education Building location along Howard Street along with a request that the Town allow the University to be the lead re-developer of the dilapidated sections of Howard Street.”
Angie Wright successfully defended her dissertation on December 14, 2007 and will graduate in May, 2008.
Matt Roberts (Cohort 13) and Dr. Bill Peacock are spreading the word about the Blue Ridge Family Literacy Project which they developed.They presented in San Francisco at the national Gear Up! conference in July and will present to the National Conference on Family Literacy in March in Louisville, KY. Matt hopes to defend his dissertation in April.
Dr. Vickie Hugger is preparing to submit her dissertation for consideration by several publishers. She will continue to work with her chair Dr. Harriette Buchanan) on this endeavor. Vickie reports: “I have also started cleaning everything I ignored for 5 years - closest, drawers, walls, etc. In fact, just last week (while my husband was touring the Holy Land) I ripped out the carpet in his home study, put down new tile, painted, installed three new cabinets, and made new curtains for the room. From this one room I filled a pickup truck for the dump and the back of my Explorer with donations. It was absolutely exhilarating! Oh! I have also read three nonsense novels - no notes, no reflections and absolutely no group processing! Life is grand!”
Dr. Bricca Sweet is the Executive Director of Ed-LBEX, Inc., a non-profit organization which provides consulting assistance to facilitate public school reform with learner-centered efforts that help build student achievement, parental and community involvement, and greater public support of public schools. She will be making presentations at the Beyond School Hours national conference in Jacksonville in February, the NC Center for Afterschool Programs annual conference in Greensboro in March, and the National Afterschool Association’s Annual Conference in Fort Lauderdale in March.
Dr. Cookie Wilson is currently working part-time at Southern Prestige Industries. One division of this company manufactures parts for the aerospace industry and is in the process of implementing a quality program, the AS9100. Cookie says “I am very familiar with the quality approach to organizations because I wrote about that in my dissertation. So...I am able to lend some expertise to this enterprise...same language, different application.”
Betsy Ray (Cohort 13) worked as an adjunct instructor this past fall semester at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC where she taught a math methods course for the Education department. Her department chair at Warren Wilson was Dr. Laura Turchi (Cohort 1).
Kay Campany (Cohort 12) continues to teach AP Biology/Mayland Community College Dual Enrollment at Avery High School where she is also an Assistant Principal. She participated in a presentation on “Using Technology to Make Data Driven Decisions” at the 2007 Annual Conference of National Professional Development Schools Conference in Las Vegas. Kay reports that she and her husband have both completed all coursework and internships in their doctoral programs, and will be writing their dissertations at the same time!!!
Todd and Stacy Martin (Cohort 13) welcomed their first child, Sadie Rose, on October 17, 2007. Todd passed his Qualifying Exams in late June, 2007 and will be writing his prospectus this spring.
Gail York (Cohort 15) worked as a Research Assistant during the fall 2007 semester. She researched information regarding IMPACT for Dr. Nita Matzen and also worked for Dr. Alice Naylor, creating a list of faculty in the College of Education and their research interest(s).
Sara Carr (Cohort 15) plans to be married in August of this year and is excited about her wonderful new stepdaughter. Sara continues to work as Chair of the Humanities Department at Davidson Community College where they are in the running for a Fulbright Scholar from China for the fall.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
University policy requires that all official electronic communication with students be sent to AppalNet addresses. This means that whenever the Graduate School communicates with any graduate students by e-mail, the message will be sent to the student's AppalNet address only. Students, of course, are welcome to forward AppalNet mail to other addresses.
