October Faculty Highlights: Lucinda Bliss, M.F.A.

As we continue to talk about how to build learning communities and how to increase connectivity with our students at Union Institute & University, I am happy to highlight Lucinda Bliss, M.F.A. as an example of a faculty member who is committed to social responsibility. Lucinda takes her academic and artistic gifts and uses them both to benefit her surrounding communities in unique, dynamic ways, and I'm proud to recognize her this month.

 

Lucinda Bliss, M.F.A., has taught at Union Institute & University since 2005. She is an instructor within the BA program, specializing in the area of visual culture and art history. In addition to her work at Union, Lucinda has taught widely at other institutions, such as the University of Southern Maine, and within the MFA program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Along with her teaching, she also worked for four years as the Director of the Bowdoin Summer Art Camp at Bowdoin College, as well as published the short chapbook of poetic verse, The Anatomy of Desire: the Daughter / Mother Sessions (2000). Lucinda is likewise a prolific visual artist, who has exhibited widely, demonstrating her passion and talent for painting, drawing, and mixed media works.   

 

You can see more of her artwork at her website.

In her own art and within her classes, Lucinda seeks to demonstrate the productive balance between creative freedom and critical thinking and research skills. Her own research background includes the topics of feminism and women’s studies, semiotics, the culture of rock-and-roll, psychoanalysis and identity, as well as the relationship between pedagogy and technology.

Lucinda seeks to create engaging learning environments for her students and is always aware of her role in productively challenging and mentoring them to achieve their full potential. Lucinda said about her understanding of social responsibility: “In working with students, my first priority is to create a sense of group trust, which is essential to establishing a context for rigorous dialogue and critique in the classroom. The bottom line is that it takes time to draw students out and to address their concerns, including fears and insecurities about art, as well to share a bit about myself and my work with the group.  At Union, we serve a diverse student body and this makes for a rich sense of community, if students in a course are committed to the group dynamic and to offering rich feedback on one another’s work. I believe that the arts hold a unique position in society—that self-awareness and cultural understanding can be deepened though artistic process and that art objects can speak to the human experience uniquely. Educating students in the arts means contributing to each individual’s ability to see, analyze, problem solve, and essentially become more engaged citizens of the world. It sounds grandiose perhaps, but I know it to be true, and it is this belief that links my practice as a teacher with my understanding of social responsibility.”

In addition, Lucinda’s own artistic pursuits offer further avenues for practicing social engagement such as partnering with Maine Farmland Trust, an organization designed to support farmers and to protect farmland: “Over the summer, I began a collaboration with the Maine Farmland Trust in which I've combined my passions for running, drawing, and farming. The process involves literally running the boundaries of farmland and documenting each run with a GPS watch. I then write a blog entry about the experience (lucindasrunningblog.com, which has been featured on Freshly Pressed) and then translate the narrative into visual form in my studio. Work from this project is currently on view at the Maine Farmland Trust Gallery in Belfast, Maine, and will exhibit in 2014 at Aucocisco Galleries in Portland, Maine. In addition, there will be an exhibit of related work in the fall of 2014 at Landmark College in Vermont."

Several of Lucinda's 2012-13 works can be seen on the AucociscoWebsite, reflecting an exhibit there in May, 2013.

October Faculty Highlights: Dr. Woden Teachout

As we continue to talk about how to build learning communities and how to increase connectivity with our students at Union Institute & University, I am happy to highlight Dr. Woden Teachout as an example of a faculty member who is committed to social responsibility. Dr. Teachout takes her academic and artistic gifts and uses them both to benefit her surrounding communities in unique, dynamic ways, and I'm proud to recognize her this month.

Dr. Woden Teachout has been teaching at Union Institute & University since 2003 and was part of the inaugural task force for building Union’s Online MA program. She admitted that she was skeptical of online learning at first, but her work with the MA program convinced her of its great value: “By carefully crafting the curriculum, we have been able to provide students with the essential tools for scholarship in the foundational classes, and provide flexibility for student-designed curriculum in the advanced classes, while dedicating credits to internships and experiential learning.” She continues to mentor and serve in the History & Culture concentrations offered within the Online MA degree.

Dr. Teachout is a writer and historian primarily interested in the cultural history of American patriotism and American understandings of democracy. Her first book, Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism (2009) examines the changing, and controversial meanings of the American flag since the founding of the United States. The book received wide attention and praise for its narrative style and cultural insight, being reviewed by publications, such as The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, and by documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns. 

 

Her most recent book, Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home (2012), was co-written with Susan Clark. In this work, Dr. Teachout draws on her historical training to show how the values of town-hall, American democracy are still practiced in the twenty-first century. Taking recent examples of community activism, Dr. Teachout and Susan Clark offer an attractive, alternative vision of a democratic government, powered by local concerned citizens, working together to address a variety of social and legislative issues.

Dr. Teachout’s writing, research, and instruction are intimately bound up with the questions of social responsibility and how she can have an impact on her surrounding communities. “One of the things that I most value about Union is its long tradition of engaged scholarship: scholarship that speaks to a community of academic scholars, but that also moves out of the ivory towers and into the rough and tumble of public life,” Dr. Teachout said.  “I’m interested in the cultural history of democracy, both as a scholar and a citizen, so social responsibility is always a central question. How have citizens tried to foster democratic cultures throughout the American past?  How have they used our history as a source of inspiration and a way to articulate values that might guide the nation?  And what might we do now to reinvigorate American democracy?”

But Dr. Teachout is interested in more than the content of history. She is also concerned with how that information is presented: “Looking at these questions, I’ve been increasingly drawn to issues of how we learn as well as what we learn.  As so many thinkers have articulated, there is a clear and necessary link between education and democracy.  Critical thinking, in particular, can be one of the foundations of civil society: both a means to personal empowerment for the disempowered, and one of the best ways to strengthen democratic culture and civic engagement.

For someone with these convictions, our Master of Arts program is a really exciting place to be.  We are blessed with incredible students:  thoughtful individuals who come to us with a host of rich life experiences and ways of looking at the world.  Our faculty talks a lot about John Dewey and Paolo Freire and their insights into the personal and social relevance of education.   We see our role as helping our students develop their capacities to their fullest, giving them the scholarly tools and strategies to unlock difficult problems – not only in our program but in the world beyond.”

Watch a short interivew below with Dr. Teachout as she talks about her book, Slow Democracy!

 

 

 

2013 Virtual National Faculty Meeting: Remembering Dr. Bernard Bull’s 7 Tricks and Tips

The posts for the October Union Strasse newsletter come on the heels of a successfully executed virtual national faculty meeting. All recordings and resources from each presentation are available in the WINK group on CampusWeb, and I encourage everyone to stop by and revisit the informative workshops by led by our generous, expert faculty presenters.

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Bernard Bull, is the Assistant Vice President of Academics, Associate Professor of Education, and Director/Chair of the M.S. in Educational Design & Technology at Concordia University Wisconsin. His presentation addressed the topic, “Online Learning through Community, Connectivity, and Collaboration.”

Many of you who attended reported how encouraged and inspired you were by Dr. Bull’s vision of using virtual classroom tools to cultivate better learning communities among your students.

The goal, he emphasized, is never to use technology for the sake of technology. Rather, technology becomes a means of achieving our main purpose: keep relationship and connectivity at the center of our mission and calling as teachers.

The calling of the online learner in the twenty-first century, Dr. Bull said, is as much about building learning communities and learning networks as it is about accessing information. He offered seven dynamic tools to empower instructors to cultivate those learning and networking communities with their students. I wanted to remember those seven tips and tricks here.

1)      Google+: This platform is similar to Facebook, and it is great for inviting outsiders into a virtual space to have a conversation, share videos, type comments, and share photos. Find more information here.

2)      Twitter: Dr. Bull said that using Twitter might see odd at first, but Twitter is really like micro-blogging—you can type 140 characters or less in any online posting. He encouraged us to use Twitter as a great place to share links and resources. He even recommended Twitter as a way to build 30 minutes of professional development into your day by just subscribing to certain Twitter accounts. In this way, a faculty member or a student becomes exposed to more resources by being connected to other people than they would find by trying to research it all on their own. Find out more here.

3)      Google Hangouts: This interface is similar to Adobe Connect. You can host up to 10 people in a virtual room, and the interface contains video and audio features. You can share screens and interact with a chat portal. The “On Air” capability allows you and your students to automatically record a meeting and stream it to YouTube. Recording is useful in case you or your students want to save the meeting for future reference. Find out more here.

4)      Diigo (Digest of Internet Information, Groups, and Other Stuff): Diigo is a social bookmarking website that allows users to highlight any part of a page and to attach a “post-it-note” to the highlight or to an entire page. If you are looking to organize a series of websites for your students, or if you want students to bookmark, record, and add notations about the usefulness of certain websites, Diigo is an excellent tool for individual research and for shared, team research possibilities. Find out more here.

5)      Blogging: Never underestimate blogging as a formative assessment tool. You can use any number of blog sites for students to record journal entries or begin drafts of papers for you and other students to give feedback. Find out more here.

6)      Google Docs: This feature in Google is useful for writing collective essays. The program also allows users to view and track editorial changes. This tool is an excellent compliment to a letter-grade assignment, ensuring that students have the opportunity to practice and learn before turning in their final draft. Find out more here.

7)      Digital Learning Community: The last tip is to encourage students to think about and become a member of a digital learning community. Part of being a digital learning community is to communicate early and often, be really curious, and to look for and reach out to specific individuals. Another part is to encourage and affirm IN OUR WORDS and talk intentionally rather than to discourage and distract. A digital learning community is a space to challenge and question one another and build upon the ideas of others.

Dr. Bull said that putting some of these tools into place has three advantages. Using them: 1) increases learning through practice, 2) increases student engagement and a greater sense of community and responsibility, and 3) increases access and possibility to your learners.

If you are an instructor at Union, and you have not already done so, please send me an e-mail at VPAA@myunion.edu and let me know how you think you could use some of these tools to increase connectivity, relationship, and engagement in your courses!

New UI&U Library Resources

Susan Whitehead and Matt Pappathan continue to provide innovative and helpful resources for our faculty through the UI&U Library. In an effort to support and promote both an engaging learning experience for our students, as well as the professional development and equipping of our instructors, I wanted to highlight some of the library’s latest tools and resources.

• Our library recently subscribed to the Films on Demand Master Academic Collection database which includes 11,200 full length videos and 166,000 video clips. Major subject categories include the Humanities, Social Sciences, Business, Economics, Health/Medicine, Science, and Mathematics. Archival films and newsreels are also included. Access is delivered via online streaming technology and is ideally suited for online classroom or individual usage. Follow the link to the Library’s resource page, scroll down to Films on Demand, and enter the site by typing in your Union ID and password.
• The UI&U Library now provides access to the Chronicle of Higher Education without the additional step of logging in through our proxy server. This is the premier news source of post-secondary education. Log in to find out academic, technological and administrative trends nationally and globally. Go to chronicle.com, and in the upper right hand corner, click log in. (Don’t subscribe! We’ve done that for you!) Then create a free account with your Union email. You maintain the same account whether you’re at one of our centers, at home, working on your laptop, desktop, or iPad. You can download the app from the iTunes store here or by searching for it by name. It appears in the newsstand and you simply log in or create an account with your Union email.
• Our library will soon be adding online subscriptions to two new research journals in response to requests from our Ph. D. program. Both journals will become available to our community in early in 2014 with the start of their newest volumes.

-The International Journal of Servant Leadership is an annual publication that contains cross-disciplinary essays relating to politics, business, social justice, science, and a holistic and ethical approach to community engagement and personal growth.

-Political Communication is a quarterly journal that focuses on the interplay of various forms of communication and their political implications. The journal presents cross-disciplinary, avant-garde research and encourages a variety of theoretical approaches and analytical methods examining communication policy and practice.

• Our library continues to build its electronic book collections. We recently exceeded 200,000 titles and are rapidly expanding our holdings. Check the UI&U Library Blog site to see this list of latest additions!

Faculty Highlights: Dr. Frederick Read

Social responsibility is one of Union’s foremost values, and I see it displayed every day in the passion of the leaders who work and teach at Union Institute & University. This month I am happy to recognize Dr. Frederick Read as one of the outstanding faculty members who embodies that value in unique ways.

Dr. Frederick K. Read has taught at Union since 1998, and now serves as a faculty member and as an academic advisor to Union students within the Business Administration and Business Management programs.  

Dr. Read’s courses are complemented by his years of experience in the U.S. Army, Working in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, and by his experience at Easter Seals, Southwestern Ohio as the vice president of Operations. 

Union celebrates and values their scholar/practitioner instructors, and Dr. Read is one of our professors who successfully combined his academic training with his military and business careers. He knows the corporate environment as well as the academic world, and it is vital to him that his students apply the values and knowledge they receive in the classroom to their own businesses and careers. “Social responsibility is an important issue for each of us,” Dr. Read said. “Each person should try to find a place (niche) where he/she can make a difference in people’s lives; whether it is small or large. We should think of this as service to the greater community. Social responsibility, especially corporate social responsibility, is an integral piece in several of my courses. This is an important concept for students to know and learn.”

According to Dr. Read, environmental awareness is one of the ways that the value of social responsibility can be applied in the business world. “Many corporate giants are embarking on environmentally-friendly processes that use fewer fossil fuels, less water, and reduce waste. Students should be encouraged to emulate this concept in their daily lives. We only have one planet. Every resource we have, except for maybe oxygen, is finite. We have to save it!”

Dr. Read continues to invest in the mission of Union through his student engagement, but he is also an involved member of the Covington community, in Northern Kentucky. He serves on the Diocese of Covington School Board, on the Alliance for Catholic Urban Education, and is a member of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and the Northern Kentucky Officials Association.

A crucial aspect of caring for a community and working for change, according to Dr. Read, is understanding the history of a place. “When I was I kid, back in the days before television, we used to sit at the dining room table and dad would tell us history stories. I think it’s important to know the history of why we did things. There’s an old story about if you don’t understand history you’re doomed to repeat it. I don’t know that I agree with that, but I do think we need to understand how we got where we are, and we shouldn’t forget that. I think part of that is missing today. Too many people don’t know the civil rights movement, they don’t understand that struggle and I think that needs to be retaught on a continual basis. It is only when we understand this history and how society changed in the 1960s that we can fully understand and appreciate social responsibility. It is also important to remember that social responsibility, especially in the area of civil rights, is everyone’s business. That is a message I try to deliver.”

Faculty Highlights: Professor Lawrence E. Hibbert

Social responsibility is one of Union’s foremost values, and I see it displayed every day in the passion of the leaders who work and teach at Union. This month I am happy to recognize Professor Lawrence E. Hibbert as one of the outstanding faculty members who embodies that value in unique ways.

Professor Lawrence E. Hibbert is the Director of the Criminal Justice Program in Miami, Florida. He has been part of Union’s full-time faculty since 2006, and it is through his servant leadership, innovative outreach and program development that the Criminal Justice Program has experienced such success.  

Professor Hibbert served for many years as a Sergeant of Police in Jamaica, where he was born. When he came to the United States in 1980, he worked full time while completing his bachelor’s degree in Union Institute & University’s business management program. Professor Hibbert went on to the master’s program in dispute resolution at the Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He completed both degrees while continuing to work and support his family.

According to Professor Hibbert, many officers come to Union with reservations—they do not know if they can complete their degree and continue to work full time. He is able to empathize and share his own experience with them and encourage them through their courses and, ultimately, across the graduation stage. He knows that completing a degree takes time, scheduling, focus, and dedication. Because of that care and empathy, Professor Hibbert is a trusted mentor and counselor for officers pursuing their degrees.

One of the new developments for the Criminal Justice program in Miami is the addition of a new off-site classroom at the Miami Dade Police Academy—the largest police department in South Florida. This makes a total of eight off-site classrooms that the Miami Center has established throughout southeast Florida. These off-site locations are key strategy components for program enrollment. This allows thousands of officers to find out about Union and the opportunities to complete their bachelor’s degrees and qualify for promotions. “I know it’s a feather in my cap to get into the academy where they train all their officers,” Professor Hibbert said. “Being there when the new officers come in, they‘re going to see that there are other officers who are completing their degrees, and they’re going to want to be a part of it. That will help us a lot with recruiting.”

In addition to expanding class offerings through off-campus sites, the Miami Center offers Saturday tutoring sessions where students can receive one-on-one instruction in writing, math, and questions relating to their respective programs. Participating in these Saturday tutoring sessions is one of the ways that Professor Hibbert has made the Criminal Justice program so attractive to the students. These tutoring sessions are tangible retention practices that have kept the academic program strong.

When asked about the role of social responsibility in his life, Professor Hibbert said, “Being socially responsible means that I must behave ethically and with sensitivity towards everyone. Striving for social responsibility helps me to have a positive impact on students and prospective students of Union Institute & University and the South Florida community as a whole.

I believe that my commitment to social responsibility is reflected by the activities I choose to participate in and the lifestyle I lead as a husband, father, grandfather, colleague, and faculty member. Only through embracing and embedding a sense of social responsibility into your personal value and belief system can you truly become socially responsible in all that you do.

This is my motto and I live by it: ‘I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live.’” (George Bernard Shaw)

New Hire: Dr. Terri Henderson

One of the guiding questions I am asking as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Union Institute & University is how we can better cultivate the practice of writing grants. 

I am happy to announce the recent appointment of Dr. Terri Henderson to Union Institute & University. She is a researcher, administrator, and grant writer who has a long history as an educator and as an executive director for the Boys and Girls Clubs (BGC). Throughout her tenure she garnered more than $7 million in local, state, and federal grants. I am happy that Dr. Henderson will guide our faculty and staff in seeking external funding.  

Prior to her work with the Boys and Girls Club, Dr. Henderson held a number of leadership positions in both K-12 and higher education. She has served as the CEO for the BGC’s Career Connections Charter High School, as a Federal Programs Director, and as a high school and middle school principal. She also worked for five years as a national training institute manager for Bridges.com, Inc., one of the premier organizations in North America specializing in online education resources and career counseling for middle schools and high schools.

In the fall of 2012 she assumed the position of professor for the Master of Education (M.Ed.) online program for Union Institute & University, in which she upgraded the technical components of the online course modules and served as a faculty advisor to the master of education students.

Her commitment to the values of social and ethical responsibility has fueled her service and leadership roles in various organizations and agencies such as the United Way, the American Red Cross, the Allegheny County Medical Society Task Force, and the Pittsburgh Job Corps Community Relations Council, just to name a few.

We are excited to have her on the Union team and part of the Office for Academic Affairs.

Follow the link to hear more of Dr. Henderson’s story of community outreach and grant-writing success.