Note: Beginning in May, SOE News will be published every other Monday during the summer. The next SOE News publication will be on Monday, June 3.

The Specialized Education Services department of the UNCG School of Education hosted American Sign Language Idol on Saturday, May 4, 2013. A total of $1,841.00 was raised to send our Deaf-Blind friends in the Greensboro area attend Camp Dogwood! (Hey, that Cowboy looks a little familiar…)

On May 16, SOE staff members volunteered with Habitat for Humanity to help construct a home in Greensboro. They began the day with a just a foundation (no walls), and by the end of the day the walls were up (you can see their result in the photo above). Congrats to Dodie Booton, Brenda Jones, Babbette Mabe, Ciara Marable, Meggan Reagan, Carol Resch, and Breon Williams on a job well done!

May SOE Faculty and Student Spotlight

May’s SOE Faculty and Student Spotlight features ERM professor Ric Luecht and ERM Ph.D. student Shureka Hargrove. Read more about Ric and Shureka on the SOE home page (soe.uncg.edu), or click here.

ERM Faculty Candidate Colloquium – Monday, May 20

ERM will have Dr. Andrew McConney, a Faculty Candidate coming in from Australia, and the SOE Faculty & Staff are invited to attend his colloquium on Monday, May 20, 2013 from 1:30-2:30 pm in #222 SOEB.  The title of his colloquium is:  Synthesizing Findings within Mixed (or Multi-) Method Program Evaluations.

Veteran and Military Affiliate Education Institute – June 6 – 7

The Office of Undergraduate studies will host the Veteran and Military Affiliate Education institute on June 6-7, 2013 (see ad below).  All faculty participants will receive a stipend of $420 for attending the two-day institute.

The goal of the institute is to equip faculty with information, tools, and skills, which will better prepare you to provide effective learning environments and opportunities for military populations at our institution. Faculty will participate in a series of information sessions over the course of the two-day period, addressing topics which include:  Understanding UNCG’s military demographic, The Value of Veterans in the Classroom, Hearing the Stories of Transition for our Military Population, Curriculum Design for Military Populations, and Opportunities for Research.

The workshop will take place on both days from 10am-4pm. Please RSVP to Love C. Keys at llcrossl@uncg.edu. Keep in mind that space is limited.

Summer Volunteer Opportunities

CWS Immigration and Refugee Program needs volunteers for the two following events. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Shannon Green at cwsvolunteer.nc@gmail.com to RSVP for the day and time you would like to volunteer.

1. June 1st from 9am-5pm – The event is a Citizenship Workshop. Click on this link for details.

2. June 8th in two hour increments between 9am-10pm. You can choose a two (or more) hour time slots to volunteer at the Mosaic Festival: International Food, Art, and Music in downtown Greensboro. To learn more, visit www.greensboromosaic.com and click here.

Summer Building Security Reminder

From Angel Biegert:

As the summer begins I’d like to remind all individuals of the importance of securing our buildings, (SOEB, Curry & Ferguson Buildings).  Please remember to lock your office doors, even when stepping away for only a few minutes.
Also, departmental workrooms, mailrooms, GA offices, etc. should remain closed and locked unless an individual is occupying the space.

Thank you in advance for your assistance regarding the importance of securing office equipment and your personal items.
If you have questions and/or concerns please contact me at 336-340-0827 or acsolomo@uncg.edu.

SOE Kayaking Group

We would like to get a group together for a guided “Night Paddle” one evening during the week.  The paddle is usually 2 hrs starting at 7PM in May and 8PM starting in June for rest of the season.  Please contact Sheila Gambardella if interested in participating.  If we get at least 10 commitments we can have our own guide/session.  Less than 10 we will need to go to a Wednesday night paddle.  We would like to go in May.

Also, we should start to look for interest in a day of kayaking, canoeing or tubing the Dan River this June.  Those interested should also contact Sheila Gambardella at sagambar@uncg.edu.

UNCG HR Information

PPO Annual Enrollment Part 1 Information

By now you may have received a brochure from the State Health Plan regarding Annual Enrollment that will run May 20 – May 31, 2013.

You do NOT need to do anything during Annual Enrollment if you are satisfied with the plan in which you are currently enrolled. If you take no action, you will remain on your current plan, along with any covered dependents. Any plan changes made during Annual Enrollment will become effective July 1, 2013. There are no changes to member or dependent premiums.

There will be another enrollment period in October (Part 2), during which there will be massive changes to the health plan’s structure, premiums, cost design.  The details of those changes are still being worked out in Raleigh, and we’ll pass along more information as soon as we get it (probably closer to October).

This will also be the time for our NCFlex open enrollment.  For 2014, both will finally run together on a calendar plan year. For questions, please contact the UNCG Human Resources office at 334-5009.

Fidelity Holding Individual Counseling Sessions This Summer

Fidelity is holding individual counseling sessions at UNCG and invites you to attend.

Joshua Soucy, our Fidelity Investments Representative will be conducting 1:1 Retirement Planning Sessions this summer. Consider meeting with your Fidelity Workplace Planning & Guidance Consultant if you need help with:

• Managing your retirement savings goals
• Choosing from among a wide range of investments
• Building a plan that’s easy to put into action

Sessions can be scheduled during the following time periods:

To schedule an appointment, please go to www.fidelity.com/atwork/reservations or call 1-800-642-7131.

Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Accomplishments

Catherine Matthews (TEHE) was awarded the Outstanding 9-16 Educator Award in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education for her work mentoring future educators. Matthews boasts a 40-year career in science and 20 years with UNCG. One of her notable accomplishments is the design and implementation of the Environmental Education Professional Development for Schools program (PDS), where Matthews has mentored future educators as undergraduate students and helped usher them into their teaching career. The award recipients were nominated by their colleagues as outstanding champions of STEM education in the state of North Carolina. For more information about the SMT Center, award winners or additional STEM resources, visit www.ncsmt.org.

Deb Taub (TEHE) has had her manuscript, “Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Resident Assistants’ Intention to Refer At-risk Students to Counseling,” as the Association of College and University Housing Officers International ‘s Betty J. Harrah Manuscript of the Year. The manuscript was co-authored by several of Deb’s former colleagues at Purdue and appeared in the Journal of College and University Student Housing. Deb and her colleagues will be recognized at ACUHO-I’s conference in Minneapolis in June.

Shureka Hargrove, Ph.D. student in the Educational Research Methodology department in the School of Education, discusses her on the job experiences through her internship with the Educational Testing Service and why she chose to pursue a career in educational program assessment.

1). You are currently in the Ph.D. program in the Educational Research Methodology department at UNCG. Could you talk a little about what brought you to UNCG, and how you developed an interest in program evaluation in the education field?

When I became the first person in my immediate family to receive a bachelor’s degree from college in May 2005, I contemplated what was ahead for me in the future, knowing that I was still able to fulfill my dreams through challenges that I faced growing up in a small town, and I didn’t let these situations discourage me from receiving a college education.   I come from a small city where there were not a lot of opportunities geared towards gaining college level research experiences.  I wanted to do more for my home community and develop educational programs, as well as determining how well these programs function and could be improved to better meet its goals.  This is where my interest in program evaluation developed.  I also volunteered and served as co-chair in the past in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority’s educational programs called Delta Carousel.  This program has volunteers who mentor at-risk kids, help promote self-esteem, and provide extracurricular activities to youth.  As a part of this program, there would be an evaluation performed on the successes of the program, from the service provided to the students to their performance in school.  This also increased my interests in program evaluation because I realized that program evaluation is involved in many different areas in many levels of programs.  Through researching various programs, I believed the knowledge, skills, and expertise that I would gain from ERM would be the right choice for me, and so I decided to apply to this department, and now I am in my second year here at UNCG.  Also, the continuous support from my parents, through their sacrifices in the past, also played a major role in me deciding to come to UNCG.

2). What do you enjoy the most about the ERM department at UNCG?

I enjoy numerous aspects of the ERM department at UNCG.  I enjoy the personal, talented, as well as the cultural diversity within the student body of our department.  We have students from all over the world, from NC to China, Kenya, Peru, and many other countries.  We get along very well and even though we spend a great deal of time at school working on schoolwork, we still find the time to hang together outside of school, such as getting together for lunch and dinner, running in marathons, attending baseball games, and bowling.  I feel that we are very supportive of each other, and we always celebrate someone when they accomplish a goal or reach the next step in the graduate school process.  I also enjoy the expertise and personality of the faculty of ERM.  We have faculty who are leading experts, locally and nationally, in the field of methodology, psychometrics, and program evaluation. Each faculty member is very passionate about their area of experience, and they are fully capable of spreading this knowledge to us through their coursework, as well as projects in which there is collaboration between the faculty and the students. We are also able to participate in events with our faculty outside of school, which I feel gives us more of a personal connection with our faculty.  I also enjoy the challenge in the coursework.  We have a very intensive course load, in which we are challenged to think of situations in more of an applied manner, and not just answer questions for right or wrong.  This allows me to think more creatively and apply my knowledge to “real-world” situations.

3). This past year you completed your graduate assistantship with the Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships. Could you talk a little about what you learned about program evaluation from your assistantship?

As a graduate assistant at the Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships, I work with the Center Evaluator and The Juvenile Justice Substance Abuse Mental Health Partnerships (JJSAMHP) Assessment Team on data analysis planning, research and through technical report writing, and contribute to multiple projects throughout the center.   JJSAMHP are local teams across NC working together to deliver effective, family-centered services and support for juvenile justice-involved youth with substance and mental health challenges.  I have been working on data analysis for completed initial and treatment-completion interview forms, in order to make some interpretations about the youth progression through treatment services, based on their responses on these forms.  The information gathered from those forms can assist in developing and improving services for these youth to help keep them out of the system.   In working at the center, I have learned the different aspects involved in a program evaluation, especially how important team work, staying in contact with your clients, and the computational and writing work that must also be done in order to perform effective evaluations.  I also learned, from being at the Center, the importance of including many different groups’ stakeholders in an evaluation in order to get a variety of perspectives and that the use of multiple data collection techniques are important to increasing the validity of a study.  I have also built relationships with new people, and also built my academic and technical skills

4). You were also involved in an Educational Testing Service internship last summer – could you talk a little about ETS and your experience with them?

In the summer of 2012, I had the wonderful opportunity to be a participant in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Internship Program at ETS.  NAEP is the largest, nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas.  While most NAEP assessments are administered in a paper-and-pencil based format, NAEP is moving forward to computer-based assessments.  This was the focus area where my research project was based on: developing ideas and sample tasks for these future assessments.  During this internship, I worked in the NAEP Assessment Development Department on a team of experts in test development.  I conducted research on ideas for future hands-on tasks and interactive computer tasks (ICTs) for the NAEP Science assessments.  ICTs are 20 to 40 minute scenarios for students to complete, and are interactive tasks with questions that measure student actions in completing these scenarios.  I also attended various seminars on subjects in educational measurement and professional development.  I also had the opportunity to present my research findings at the closing symposium, which was attended by several members of the ETS and local community.  This was a great opportunity in which I gained valuable work experience, and was able to apply some of the skills that I have learned from my coursework to my summer research project. I do not believe that this opportunity would have been possible without the knowledge and experience that I have gained from ERM at UNCG, as well as without the motivation from Dr. Terry Ackerman and Dr. Holly Downs, who were both influential in my decision to apply for an internship, being in my first year and not doubting myself.  This was a great experience.

5). Evaluation and assessment of educational programs is currently a popular discussion topic. What do you feel is the most important thing people not familiar with this area should know about evaluation of educational programs?

I think that some people may think that program evaluation is just a way to, so called, prove to a funder that a specific educational program may have worked or it failed at delivering a product or service, or that evaluation is just taking a survey or interview, and produces useless information.  Evaluation is actually a process of gathering informative data and analyzing this data in a way that the information can be used to determine whether a program is effectively carrying out its planned activities, and the extent to which it is achieving its stated objectives. An evaluation can be beneficial by greatly improving the effectiveness of a program, by collecting different types of information from different stakeholders of a program at different levels of the program.  I think 2 main features that people should know about program evaluations are that program evaluation can improve program implementation by providing information in helping programs identify areas for improvement and to help reach goals more efficiently, and that program evaluation can demonstrate and show program’s success or progress.  There are several program evaluation approaches and several methods for data collection that may be used for an evaluation of educational programs, and the specific approaches and the methods used should be based on the overall purpose of the program.

Ric Luecht, professor in the Educational Research Methodology department in the School of Education, discusses the importance of assessment engineering in education, and how his experience providing consulting services to outside organizations provides opportunities to his students.

1). You are a specialist in quantitative methods, as well as educational measurement and assessment design. What led you to this career, and what do you enjoy most about your work?

I began my work in the testing field developing hands-on clerical, accounting and manufacturing skills qualification and placement tests for Manpower, Inc., an international temporary employment. Eventually, I finished my graduate studies in measurement and evaluation and was hired as a measurement research scientist at ACT where I worked in a small research group doing work on automated test assembly, computer-based testing research, multidimensional item response theory, and other state-of-the-art technical psychometric research. My work at ACT lead to a senior research with the National Board of Medical Examiners in Philadelphia, where was a senior psychometrician and eventually led the team that computerized the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.  That was my last job in the private sector before joining the ERM Department at UNCG.  With each new career opportunity, I have tried to learn as much as possible, take on tough challenges and do the best job possible, and let each new experience hopefully open some new doors for me. Thankfully, my career has evolved into an extremely interesting amalgamation of roles that often lets me work with top people in many different disciplines around the world. In addition to the measurement field, my work routinely requires cross-over into fields like computer science and information technology, applied mathematics, statistics, cognitive science, and design engineering.   I particularly love to work on challenging technological assessment design issues, but also on developing user-friendly tools and/or finding ways to automate operations that are tedious, time-consuming or costly.  I like challenges that require me to think outside the box–not being able to depend on conventional thinking and well-established solutions.  If asked what I do, I can honestly say that I get to work everyday with some very smart people on interesting and challenging problems, and I then get the chance to share some of my experiences with some very motivated and bright graduate students. What could be more enjoyable than that?

2). Could you please talk about assessment engineering, the new approach to large-scale assessment design that you invented?

I wouldn’t say that I invented assessment engineering (AE). Rather, I cobbled together some ideas and technologies borrowed from multiple disciplines, laid out a logical framework and some terminology, and then began working hands-on with various groups to develop concrete AE applications. To date, those projects have included working with the Defense Manpower Data Center on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) used for military placement, the Uniform CPA Examination, The College Board’s Advanced Placement Examinations, and even the SAT.  In order to understand the practical and real value of an approach like AE, it is important to first understand the status quo in educational and psychological testing. Modern test development is actually not very modern–and not just because of the continued use of multiple-choice test items for many so-called “standardized tests.”  High-quality, professionally developed tests are extremely expensive to design and build, with individual test items costs from several hundred to several thousand dollars each. There are many reasons for the high costs, but the primary reasons center on expensive item writing and pretesting of items that, for security reasons, typically have a very limited “shelf life”. AE tries to reduce costs by an order of magnitude by applying some well-established design principles from modern software- and manufacturing-engineering practices to the “art” of item and test design.  For example, instead of designing a small number of individual test questions or tasks that have to be individually pilot-tested with real test takers. AE designers would develop and empirically validate a system of “templates” each capable of generating hundreds or thousands of test items that all work more or less as exchangeable units within each template family. Fundamentally, it is all about replicable and scalable design–something that has not been achieved in the past 100 years of testing practice.

While reducing costs is certainly a motivation for testing organizations to consider AE, the personal motivation behind my research is to provide instructionally useful, engaging, high quality assessment tools that teachers and students can use on-demand in the classroom. Developing useful formative assessments is, in my opinion, one of the most important challenges to meet in reforming education in a concrete way and providing empirical evidence as to what works or does not work. Most state end-of-grade, end-of-grade, or graduation tests developed for summative or accountability purposes are wholly inadequate for any formative use. Furthermore, if we attempted to apply our current, inefficient paradigm of developing high-cost, limited shelf-life summative assessments and data-hungry statistical models to meet the demand for hundreds of thousands of formatively useful assessment tasks, we would bankrupt most state education and accountability agencies. Neither is the solution to depend on unstandardized, oftentimes poor quality teacher-made assessments.  Ultimately, the formative assessment challenge–putting engaging and useful assessment tools in the hands of teachers and students on a daily basis–requires a carefully designed assessment instruments that can profile students strengths and weakness along multiple knowledge and skill dimensions as they progress through a semester or academic year, and provide actionable remediation and direct links to instruction and learning.   I am highly confident that AE-base assessment systems design can meet massive item- and assessment-task production demands of producing low-cost, high-quality assessments for daily integration with classroom activities. It’s a tall order, but we’re slowing making progress with some of the proof-of-concept activities noted above. Stay tuned over the next few years…. more to come.

3). What makes UNCG’s Educational Research Methodology department unique?

I joined the ERM faculty in 1999.  Since then, we have added enormously talented and energetic faculty, become far more selective in our recruitment and selection of graduate students, and today can boast a bit about a department that has grow into one of the premier measurement departments in the world.  We offer a unique blend of expertise that ranges from basic research in statistic and psychometric modeling to developing practical, state-of-the-art technologies being employed by the best testing organizations around. When our students enter the work force–whether in academia or the private sector–they can be confident that they have received some of the most comprehensive and up-to-date training available in the country if not the world.   More recently, we have begun to also develop a unique program of study and work experiences to create a new generation of “super program evaluators.”  I know of no other program in the country that can today claim to simultaneous be one of the best in both educational measurement and program evaluation.  We are just about there.  Definitely unique.

4). You provide consultation services to the private testing industry – could you please talk about the services you provide and explain the importance of this role in the current educational field?

I am often asked to sit on technical advisory committees (TACs) for state assessments as well as for professional certification and licensing agencies (e.g., I was on several advisory groups for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in past years and current sit on quite a few state TACs, as well as the PARCC TAC involved in developing joint assessments for about 24-million K-12 students in the U.S.. These organizations generally ask me to joint their TACs partly because of my former life as a practicing senior psychometrican and researcher in the testing industry and partly because of my on-going research on technologies like AE, automated test assembly, multistage testing and adaptive testing, The role of a TAC is advisory insofar as offering concrete recommendations on topics ranging from test score scale maintenance over time to setting performance standards, also recognizing practical, financial, and logistical complications and limitations.  I suppose that I perform that role well since I keep getting requests to join or remain on TACs.

Like others in our department and the measurement field, I also occasionally act as a consultant for organizations on a range of topics including their designs for assessment systems and new technologies such as automated test assembly, implementing various forms of computer-based testing, and developing new assessment tasks–especially technology-enhanced items.  Occasionally, I may also be called on to audit or otherwise check the technical psychometric work of a testing vendor.  As noted earlier, I like to learn new things and appreciate each new opportunity to work on challenging problems.  In turn, those experiences often give me an integrated perspective that often transcends the particular problems of one organization and instead see general patterns and potential solutions.

There are four reasons why all of this work is important to our graduate program and more generally to the field of education.  First, these opportunities to work with some great organizations and, in the case of TACs, to brainstorm with some of the brightest minds in psychometrics, are a personal joy and source of enrichment for me as a researcher, and force me to continually “raise my game” to higher levels. Second, the contacts that I and other ERM faculty make on TACs, at state departments of education, and within the testing industry at large are invaluable when it comes to finding internships for our graduate students or even post-graduate employment.  Third, I truly believe that assessment serves an integral purpose in reforming education–especially along the formative lines noted above. Rather than merely writing journal articles and otherwise complaining about the status quo, my participation on TACs and my consulting work with various groups allows me to have a direct voice in the reform dialog and even the occasional opportunity to help develop solutions (like AE-inspired test design currently being used by PARCC).  Finally, these advisory and consulting activities often directly lead to extramural funding opportunities–when as fee-for-service contacts or grants.

5). What do you enjoy the most about teaching and mentoring your students in the ERM department at UNCG?

From a teaching perspective, I enjoy introducing students to real-world analysis and measurement challenges.  There is often a huge gap between what is in our textbooks and journal articles and what practitioners need to know to handle challenges that do not always fit theories based on unrealistic, convenient assumptions.  As one of my colleagues has said, “Ric, that is a practical solution and seems to work well, but does it work in theory?”   From a mentoring perspective, there are two rather different types of mentoring experiences that make what I do so worthwhile.  The first is working with very talent confident students who want to work hard, who are willing to take some personal responsibility for their own learning, and who ultimately can take the lead on a new research or technological development.  In those cases, it is fun to continually challenge them and eventually see them arrive at something that really is unique and capable of making a potential contribution to the field.  The other type of mentoring experience is in getting students to go far beyond their own expectations or self-belief to do a challenging dissertation.  For example, they may lack a particular skill set such as computer programming or initially fail to see how they could ever do a methodological comparison of two or three very [conceptually and analytically] different statistical techniques applied to a common data set.  Helping them to gather the needed confidence, getting them to push themselves beyond what they thought possible, and eventually seeing take ownership of the idea is wonderfully rewarding to as a professor.  It really is.

Note: Beginning in May, SOE News will be published every other Monday during the summer. The next SOE News publication will be on Monday, May 20.

2013 School of Education Commencement – Friday, May 10

The 2013 School of Education Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 6:00pm in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing).

Information regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony for graduating students can be found on the SOE home page (soe.uncg.edu) by clicking on the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic; or you can click here.

Please direct students to this web link if they have any questions regarding SOE Commencement.

For Faculty Attending Commencement

• ALL FACULTY are responsible for picking up and returning their rental regalia to the UNCG Bookstore for the SOE Commencement Ceremony in a timely manner. (This is a new procedure this year; information on pickup and drop off deadline dates from the Bookstore will emailed to those of you who have requested rented regalia when it is ready to be picked up.)
• All faculty are asked to arrive no later than 5:00pm at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) on the 10th for line up for the Commencement Ceremony. The Faculty Holding Area will be in Meeting Room #2 of the Special Events Center. Please note that the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics will be hosting their Commencement Ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) directly prior to School of Education’s ceremony, so please allow additional time for arrival and parking.

If you have any questions regarding the SOE Commencement Ceremony, please feel free to contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or (336) 256-1317.

Blackboard Downtime for Upgrade Scheduled for 6 PM, Fri, 5/10 through 8 AM, Mon, 5/13

Summer 2013 Blackboard courses have been released early to UNCG faculty. This is anticipation of the Annual Blackboard Learn upgrade, which will begin at 6 PM on Friday, May 10th.

Blackboard Learn will be unavailable from 6 PM, Friday, May 10th until 8 AM, Monday, May 13th.

On Monday, May 13th at 8 AM, one of the Blackboard Learn servers will be available to first Summer Session faculty, staff and students. With only one server available, there may be a degradation in performance. Therefore, we encourage limited use of Blackboard Learn during the first few days of the summer session.

The other Blackboard Learn servers will become available by Wednesday, May 15th at 5 PM.

More information about the latest features in Blackboard Learn SP10 are available at http://ondemand.blackboard.com/understand.htm

If you have questions or need more information, please contact 6-TECH at (336) 256-TECH (8324) or 6-TECH@uncg.edu.

SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic – Saturday, May 18

SOE Faculty, Staff, and their families are invited to the 2013 SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic, taking place on Saturday, May 18 from 2:00pm – 6:00pm at Bur-Mil Park, Shelter #2 (5834 Bur-Mil Club Rd., Greensboro, NC 27410).  Join us as we celebrate the conclusion of another school year with food, games, and family fun. Event will take place at Bur-Mil Park, rain or shine. Please RSVP the names of everyone you will be bringing to the picnic by Wednesday, May 8 to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu.

SOE Kayaking Group Update

The SOE Kayaking group had their First Paddle excursion on 04/27/2013. Dr. Cheryl Greenberg, Dr. Joseph Hill, Carol Resch and Sheila Gambardella paddled a good portion of Lake Brandt.  Fun was had by all.

We would like to get a group together for a guided “Night Paddle” one evening during the week.  The paddle is usually 2 hrs starting at 7PM in May and 8PM starting in June for rest of the season.  Please contact Sheila Gambardella if interested in participating.  If we get at least 10 commitments we can have our own guide/session.  Less than 10 we will need to go to a Wednesday night paddle.  We would like to go in May.

Also, we should start to look for interest in a day of kayaking, canoeing or tubing the Dan River this June.  Those interested should also contact Sheila Gambardella at sagambar@uncg.edu.

UNCG HR Information

TIAA-CREF Individual Counseling Sessions

TIAA-CREF is holding individual counseling sessions at UNCG and invites you to attend.

You can discuss your personal financial situation with an experienced TIAA-CREF Financial Consultant on a confidential basis. This individual counseling session can help you simplify your retirement by:

·      Consolidating your retirement accounts to make managing your holdings easier, particularly when it comes to tax preparation;

·      Offering any needed estate planning, including addressing life insurance needs and wealth transfer strategies;

·      Reviewing your retirement income options to provide you with the most flexibility possible.

Sessions can be scheduled during the following time periods:

May 14    8:30 am – 4:30 pm   Long Leaf Rm (EUC)
May 15    8:30 am – 4:30 pm   Sharpe Room (EUC)

To schedule an appointment, please go to www.tiaa-cref.org/letstalk1 or call 866 843-5640.

Fidelity Holding Individual Counseling Sessions This Summer

Fidelity is holding individual counseling sessions at UNCG and invites you to attend.

Joshua Soucy, our Fidelity Investments Representative will be conducting 1:1 Retirement Planning Sessions this summer. Consider meeting with your Fidelity Workplace Planning & Guidance Consultant if you need help with:

• Managing your retirement savings goals
• Choosing from among a wide range of investments
• Building a plan that’s easy to put into action

Sessions can be scheduled during the following time periods:

To schedule an appointment, please go to www.fidelity.com/atwork/reservations or call 1-800-642-7131.

May is Asian/Pacific American History and Older Americans Month

The Governor of North Carolina has proclaimed May 2013 as Asian/Pacific American History Month and Older Americans Month.

This year’s national theme for Asian American Heritage Month is “ Building Leadership: Embracing Cultural Values and Inclusion.”  You may attend events such as the 14^th  annual Charlotte Asian Festival and  the 8^th annual Dragon Boat Festival Race to learn more about the  Asian American culture. The festival begins on May 4^th and celebrates Asian cultures, diversity, ethnicity, roots and history. http://charlottedragonboat.com/

Additionally, this year’s national theme for Older Americans Month is “Unleash the Power of Age.” This year’s celebrations highlights the significant contributions made by thousands of older Americans across our nation through spirited participation in social and faith groups, service organizations, and other activities.

Older Americans Month 2013

http://olderamericansmonth.org/Home.aspx

North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services

http://www.ncdhhs.gov/aging/oamonth/index.htm

Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Accomplishments

CED master’s counseling students in Lucy Lewis’ ‘Counseling Children’ course recently designed and delivered bullying prevention curriculum for refugee children in three after-school programs at Glen Haven, Oakwood Forest, and Ashton Woods Community Centers as their service learning project for the course.  The students, elementary, middle, and high school ages, included Liberian, Nepalese, Burmese, Congolese, Vietnamese, and other backgrounds who reported being bullied at school as well as being targets of racism.
The master’s counseling students included these issues in their curriculum.  Their goals were to increase students’ knowledge on types of bullying, how to respond to bullying, ways to deal with feelings associated with being targets of bullying, encourage a positive ethnic and cultural identity, and process what it was like to transition to life in the US.

Pictured above is the group who delivered the curriculum at Ashton Woods Community Center, including Rachel Howard, Heather Ratti, Kate Sutton, Sara Simpson, Ashley Smith, Dejanell Mittman, and Lucy Lewis (course instructor).

Recent Faculty Presentations and Publications

C. P. Gause (TEHE) keynoted the 7th Annual National Student Teaching and Supervision conference at Slippery Rock University on April 29, 2013.  He also presented a guest lecture on, “iPad, iTune, iPod, and iPhone: Creating Dynamic and Engaging Learning Communities for the iGeneration.” Visit the conference website at: http://www.student-teacher-supervision.org/keynote_speaker

Students in SES 460 designed a t-shirt to sell and raise money supporting mental health awareness and to honor the families of Newtown, Connecticut. $339.87 was raised to donate to the Mental Health Association of Greensboro for this project. To further raise awareness for mental health, some of the students and faculty in the class participated in The Human Race, a 5k walk on April 10, 2013. In the words of one SES 460 student, Shontria Fonville, “It brought me great joy to help advocate for individuals with mental health challenges. After such an amazing experiencing and meeting other people with deep passion to help the community, I can only excitedly look forward to showing continued support. (Photo of Shontria Fonville and Belinda Hardin)

SOE Reading Day Luncheon – Wednesday, May 1, 12:00pm-1:30pm in SOEB #118

We trust you are having an outstanding semester. This semester’s Reading Day Luncheon will be on Wed. 5/1 in SOEB room #118 from noon-1:30pm. If you bring something for the Luncheon, please drop it off by 11:30am.

As always, we will have lots of food and drink and great company to celebrate another outstanding semester at the SOE.

1) What to bring:

CED – fruits/salads/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Laura Gonzalez)

TEHE – fruits/salads/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Edna Tan)

ELC – *meats/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Dodie Booton)

ERM, CERE – *meats/salads (Social Committee Representative: Rachel Hill)

LIS – drinks/ice/dessert (Social Committee Representative: Anthony Chow)

SES – pasta/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Teresa Little)

CESC, PTEC, SAC, TED, TRC – desserts/*meats (Social Committee Representatives: Lori Warner/Carol-Ann Resch)

2) Slide One:

This semester’s theme: Something fun we do not know about you.

Please submit one PowerPoint slide to Anthony Chow at aschow@uncg.edu by no later than Sunday 4/28 and your slide will be part of a compilation of slides from across the SOE.

 4th Annual Triad Teacher Researcher Conference – Wednesday, May 1

The Triad Teacher Researcher Conference will take place this Wednesday, May 1 from 5:30pm-9:00pm in the SOEB.  For more information, please visit: www.triadteacherresearcher.weebly.com

American Sign Language Idol 2013 – Saturday, May 4

The SES department presents the 2013 American Sign Language Idol, taking place Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 3:00pm in the Elliott University Center Auditorium. Come enjoy students enjoying popular songs in ASL with music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, all the way to today’s songs! Money from ticket sales and donations will go to help our Deaf-Blind friends attend Camp Dogwood. For more information, click here to download the flyer.

Want to see a sneak peek at this year’s ASL Idol?

Blackboard Downtime for Upgrade Scheduled for 6 PM, Fri, 5/10 through 8 AM, Mon, 5/13

Summer 2013 Blackboard courses have been released early to UNCG faculty. This is anticipation of the Annual Blackboard Learn upgrade, which will begin at 6 PM on Friday, May 10th.

Blackboard Learn will be unavailable from 6 PM, Friday, May 10th until 8 AM, Monday, May 13th.

On Monday, May 13th at 8 AM, one of the Blackboard Learn servers will be available to first Summer Session faculty, staff and students. With only one server available, there may be a degradation in performance. Therefore, we encourage limited use of Blackboard Learn during the first few days of the summer session.

The other Blackboard Learn servers will become available by Wednesday, May 15th at 5 PM.  

More information about the latest features in Blackboard Learn SP10 are available at http://ondemand.blackboard.com/understand.htm

If you have questions or need more information, please contact 6-TECH at (336) 256-TECH (8324) or 6-TECH@uncg.edu.

2013 School of Education Commencement Information

The 2013 School of Education Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 6:00pm in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing).

Information regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony for graduating students can be found on the SOE home page (soe.uncg.edu) by clicking on the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic; or you can click here.

Please direct students to this web link if they have any questions regarding SOE Commencement.

For Faculty Attending Commencement

• ALL FACULTY are responsible for picking up and returning their rental regalia to the UNCG Bookstore for the SOE Commencement Ceremony in a timely manner. (This is a new procedure this year; information on pickup and drop off deadline dates from the Bookstore will emailed to those of you who have requested rented regalia when it is ready to be picked up.)
• All faculty are asked to arrive no later than 5:00pm at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) on the 10th for line up for the Commencement Ceremony. The Faculty Holding Area will be in Meeting Room #2 of the Special Events Center. Please note that the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics will be hosting their Commencement Ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) directly prior to School of Education’s ceremony, so please allow additional time for arrival and parking.

If you have any questions regarding the SOE Commencement Ceremony, please feel free to contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or (336) 256-1317.

SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic – Saturday, May 18

SOE Faculty, Staff, and their families are invited to the 2013 SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic, taking place on Saturday, May 18 from 2:00pm – 6:00pm at Bur-Mil Park, Shelter #2 (5834 Bur-Mil Club Rd., Greensboro, NC 27410).  Join us as we celebrate the conclusion of another school year with food, games, and family fun. Event will take place at Bur-Mil Park, rain or shine. Please RSVP the names of everyone you will be bringing to the picnic by Wednesday, May 8 to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu.

Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Accomplishments

Three faculty members in the Department of Counseling and Educational Development (Drs. Laura M. Gonzalez, Erik M. Hines, and L. DiAnne Borders) received internal funding this spring to pilot a 6 week parent curriculum they created in both English and Spanish.  The three developed the parent curriculum (along with Dr. Villalba, now at Wake Forest) with funding from a College Access Challenge Grant grant to UNC GA and the College Foundation of North Carolina  (located on the UNCG campus; www.cfnc.org).  The curriculum was developed to inform and support parents as they worked with their children on the steps of planning for college/career options.

This spring, the three faculty members delivered the curriculum in two locations.  With funding from the School of Education Dean’s Office, Drs. Hines and Borders oversaw the delivery of the curriculum to African American parents and grandparents at Smith High School.  With funding from the Coalition for Diverse Language Communities, Dr. Gonzalez and Donna Weaver (CFNC/GEAR UP Services Manager) delivered the parent curriculum to Spanish-speaking middle school and high school parents in the Asheboro City School system. Parents/grandparents at each site lauded the appropriateness of the curriculum as it assisted them in better understanding the college admissions process as well as it providing a platform and specific activities for initiating conversations with their children about well-informed decisions related to college planning.

The three faculty members collected pre-post data at both locations, including program evaluations and self-efficacy reports by parents as the curriculum is based in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), a well-established self-efficacy based approach to college planning and career decision-making.  The three faculty members are working with Deana Hasty, SOE Pre-award Research Coordinator, to identify external funding opportunities for larger scale implementation and validation studies.

Dr. Deborah Taub (TEHE) has been elected to the Directorate of the ACPA Standing Committee for Women.

Katrina P. Cummings, a SES doctoral student and EC LEADS scholar, received funding from the Public Scholarship Graduate Network for the research project:  Understanding Parent Participation in Social-Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (SEFEL).  This community-engaged research project is being conducted in partnership with the North Carolina Early Learning Network, parents, and teachers across North Carolina.

Melissa Wheeler (CED doctoral student) has been notified that she has been selected to receive a $500 research grant from the national Career Development Association in support of her dissertation study, “Measuring the Effectiveness of ‘The Major Decision’:  A Counseling Group for Undecided and Re-Deciding First year, First-Generation College Students.”  The award will be presented at the NCDA’s national conference In Boston this summer.  Congrats!

Congratulations to Chris Shafer (2013 Master of Education in Teacher Education candidate) and Rachel Smith (2013 Master of Library and Information Studies candidate), who have been selected as graduating student speakers for the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony.

Faculty members taking part in the SOE Commencement Ceremony, please make sure to RSVP your attendance by completing the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form by Thursday, April 25.

SOE Reading Day Luncheon – Wednesday, May 1, 12:00pm-1:30pm in SOEB #118

We trust you are having an outstanding semester. This semester’s Reading Day Luncheon will be on Wed. 5/1 in SOEB room #118 from noon-1:30pm. If you bring something for the Luncheon, please drop it off by 11:30am.

As always, we will have lots of food and drink and great company to celebrate another outstanding semester at the SOE.

1) What to bring:

CED – fruits/salads/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Laura Gonzalez)

TEHE – fruits/salads/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Edna Tan)

ELC – *meats/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Dodie Booton)

ERM, CERE – *meats/salads (Social Committee Representative: Rachel Hill)

LIS – drinks/ice/dessert (Social Committee Representative: Anthony Chow)

SES – pasta/vegetables (Social Committee Representative: Teresa Little)

CESC, PTEC, SAC, TED, TRC – desserts/*meats (Social Committee Representatives: Lori Warner/Carol-Ann Resch)

2) Slide One:

This semester’s theme: Something fun we do not know about you.

Please submit one PowerPoint slide to Anthony Chow at aschow@uncg.edu by no later than Sunday 4/28 and your slide will be part of a compilation of slides from across the SOE.

UNCG Staff-Faculty Kickball Classic - Wed. 4/24 @ 6 p.m., UNCG baseball field

Join us for a fun evening in support of the Guilford County Animal Shelter. Several SOE faculty – Jim Carmichael, Wayne Journall, Melody Zoch, and Anthony Chow – will be leading the Faculty “Cat Herd” (nicknamed because it has been so easy getting us organized along with approximately 20 other faculty across UNCG against the staff.

For more information: http://www.uncg.edu/staff.groups/senate/Senate_News/2012/kickball.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=t52LROeDwHc

The Animal Shelter drive is “Fill the truck” and their truck will be there.

Items needed for the shelter:

Towels – paper towels – wet-dry vac – puppy & dog food (dry) – heating pads – office products – grooming items – liquid dish soap – shop vac – copy paper – brooms – bleach – can openers – metal bowls – kitten & cat food (canned) – blanket – sheets – laundry soap – digital camera – hand sanitizer – pre-paid gas cards – 6-foot x 8-foot tarps – toilet paper – metal bowls – shampoo – cat litter

Coalition for Diverse Language Communities (CDLC) Meeting and Retreat – Thursday, April 25

All SOE faculty, staff, and students are invited to join the Coalition for Diverse Language Communities (CDLC) at their retreat planning meeting this coming Thursday, April 25, from 9:00am-11:00am in room 301 in SOEB. This is an important planning meeting where we will identify the primary issues that will be discussed, fleshed out, and operationalized at the retreat into a strategic plan for the academic year 2013-2014. The actual retreat will take place on May 29-31. The venue for the retreat will be confirmed later.

CDLC meetings and the retreat are open to all, and the Coalition hopes you can join them to help build the advocacy, outreach, professional development, research, services, and teaching opportunities to serve diverse language individuals/communities.

Coffee Talk With the Dean – Friday, April 26

Dean Wixson will host her next Coffee Talk on Friday, April 26 at 10:00 a.m. in room 301 SOEB. Everyone is invited to attend. Your questions, comments and ideas are welcome.

SOE Kayak/Canoe Excursion Trip – Saturday, April 27

The first SOE Kayak/Canoe excursion trip will take place on Saturday, April 27 at 8:30am at Lake Brandt ( visit the Lake Brandt website for directions and more info).  Kayak rentals cost $12; Tandem Kayak or Canoe (2 people if you want to buddy-up) rentals are $20.  If anyone is interested attending, please contact Sheila Gambardella at sagambar@uncg.edu.

American Sign Language Idol 2013 – Saturday, May 4

The SES department presents the 2013 American Sign Language Idol, taking place Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 3:00pm in the Elliott University Center Auditorium. Come enjoy students enjoying popular songs in ASL with music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, all the way to today’s songs! Money from ticket sales and donations will go to help our Deaf-Blind friends attend Camp Dogwood. For more information, click here to download the flyer.

Want to see a sneak peek at this year’s ASL Idol?

2013 School of Education Commencement Information

The 2013 School of Education Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 6:00pm in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing).

Information regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony for graduating students can be found on the SOE home page (soe.uncg.edu) by clicking on the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic; or you can click here.

Please direct students to this web link if they have any questions regarding SOE Commencement.

For Faculty

• All Faculty who plan to participate in the School of Education Commencement should fill out the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form.Please RSVP your participation interest no later than Thursday, April 25.
• If you require regalia rental from the UNCG Bookstore, please indicate by completing the required fields in the link to the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form above by Thursday, April 25 so that we may place your regalia order. The Dean’s Office will place the order and will pay for your regalia; however, ALL FACULTY are responsible for picking up and returning their rental regalia to the UNCG Bookstore for the SOE Commencement Ceremony in a timely manner. (This is a new procedure this year; information on pickup and drop off deadline dates from the Bookstore will be included in the SOE News announcements closer to the event.)
• All faculty are asked to arrive no later than 5:00pm at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) on the 10th for line up for the Commencement Ceremony. The Faculty Holding Area will be in Meeting Room #2 of the Special Events Center. Please note that the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics will be hosting their Commencement Ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) directly prior to School of Education’s ceremony, so please allow additional time for arrival and parking.

Students Graduating in May

• Students graduating in May interested in participating in the Ceremony will need to complete the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Students Graduating in August 2013

• If you know of students who will be graduating in August but would like to participate in the May ceremony, please have them fill out the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Student Speakers for SOE Commencement

• We are seeking nominations for student speakers for the ceremony. Please submit names of nominated student speakers to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu. Students should submit proposed remarks no later than Wednesday, April 17 to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu.
• Remarks for student speakers should be no longer than 600 words in length (max).

Updated information and deadline reminders regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony will be posted in SOE News each week under the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic, so please keep checking SOE News for Ceremony updates.

If you have any questions regarding the SOE Commencement Ceremony, please feel free to contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or (336) 256-1317.

SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic – Saturday, May 18

SOE Faculty, Staff, and their families are invited to the 2013 SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic, taking place on Saturday, May 18 from 2:00pm – 6:00pm at Bur-Mil Park, Shelter #2 (5834 Bur-Mil Club Rd., Greensboro, NC 27410).  Join us as we celebrate the conclusion of another school year with food, games, and family fun. Event will take place at Bur-Mil Park, rain or shine. Please RSVP the names of everyone you will be bringing to the picnic by Wednesday, May 8 to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu.

Save the Date – Yopp Distinguished Speaker Series 2013-2014

The Yopp Distinguished Speaker Series in Mathematics Education has been announced for the 2013-2014 academic year. Click here to read the Series flyer. These talks are hosted by the UNCG Mathematics Education Group in the School of Education with generous support from the James D. and Johanna F. Yopp Endowment.

Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Accomplishments

Dr. Margaret Gillis (SES) has been elected as the North Carolina Birth-Kindergarten Higher Education Consortium (BKHEC) representative on the North Carolina State Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC) with an appointment beginning in Fall 2013. The ICC brings policy makers, service providers, and parents together, serving young children with disabilities and developmental delays and their families. Its members work to ensure that the supports and services offered to families are in line with their needs.

Three UNCG School of Education Alumni in their first year of teaching have just won Rookie Teacher of the Year awards from their schools! Congratulations to Anthony Finlen, 5th grade teacher at Randleman Elementary, John Strickland, 3rd grade teacher at Ramseur Elementary, and Brittany Roth, 5th grade teacher at Guy B. Teachey Elementary School.

Recent Faculty/Student Publications and Presentations

TEHE graduate student Tracey Howell presented her dissertation research at the Research Pre-session at the annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

The 2013 Alumni Awards Celebration was hosted this past Friday in the SOE, recognizing the accomplishments of distinguished SOE Alumni for their service to the educational field and the community.  Visit http://soe.uncg.edu/2013-alumni-awards-celebration/for a complete listing of Alumni Awards recipients. (Pictured above, from left: Nancy Teague, Tommy Teague, Donna Sundre, Larry Coble, Melony Allen, and Kimberly Bowie. Photo by Ted Richardson.)

LIS is Recipient of 2013 Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program Grant

The Library and Information Studies department is the recipient of a 2013 Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program Grant for their project, “Academic and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) Scholars: New Americans Educated for Community College Librarianship”. The Award is in the amount of $442,063, with an additional Matching Grant Amount of $157,797. The goal of the project is to increase the number of immigrants and refugees in community college librarianship. The project includes a recruitment drive, a targeted and focused curriculum that emphasizes multicultural, multilingual, and community engaged librarianship, and a proven practicum model, the Real Learning Connections. The project will result in a sustainable curriculum as well as a multilingual and multicultural cadre of 10 librarians, ready to serve diverse community college students, and ready to work in community college library environments.

Below is a short press release here on the awards announcement:

http://www.imls.gov/grant_awards_announcement_fy_13_laura_bush_21st_century_librarian_program.aspx

View the list of the program winners by state here:

http://www.imls.gov/news/2013_lb21_grant_announcement.aspx

SOE Kayak/Canoe Excursion Trip – Saturday, April 27

The first SOE Kayak/Canoe excursion trip will take place on Saturday, April 27 at 8:30am at Lake Brandt ( visit the Lake Brandt website for directions and more info).  Kayak rentals cost $12; Tandem Kayak or Canoe (2 people if you want to buddy-up) rentals are $20.  If anyone is interested attending, please contact Sheila Gambardella at sagambar@uncg.edu.

American Sign Language Idol 2013 – Saturday, May 4

The SES department presents the 2013 American Sign Language Idol, taking place Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 3:00pm in the Elliott University Center Auditorium. Come enjoy students enjoying popular songs in ASL with music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, all the way to today’s songs! Money from ticket sales and donations will go to help our Deaf-Blind friends attend Camp Dogwood. For more information, click here to download the flyer.

2013 School of Education Commencement Information

The 2013 School of Education Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 6:00pm in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing).

Information regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony for graduating students can be found on the SOE home page (soe.uncg.edu) by clicking on the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic; or you can click here.

Please direct students to this web link if they have any questions regarding SOE Commencement.

For Faculty

• All Faculty who plan to participate in the School of Education Commencement should fill out the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form.Please RSVP your participation interest no later than Thursday, April 25.
• If you require regalia rental from the UNCG Bookstore, please indicate by completing the required fields in the link to the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form above by Thursday, April 25 so that we may place your regalia order. The Dean’s Office will place the order and will pay for your regalia; however, ALL FACULTY are responsible for picking up and returning their rental regalia to the UNCG Bookstore for the SOE Commencement Ceremony in a timely manner. (This is a new procedure this year; information on pickup and drop off deadline dates from the Bookstore will be included in the SOE News announcements closer to the event.)
• All faculty are asked to arrive no later than 5:00pm at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) on the 10th for line up for the Commencement Ceremony. The Faculty Holding Area will be in Meeting Room #2 of the Special Events Center. Please note that the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics will be hosting their Commencement Ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) directly prior to School of Education’s ceremony, so please allow additional time for arrival and parking.

Students Graduating in May

• Students graduating in May interested in participating in the Ceremony will need to complete the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Students Graduating in August 2013

• If you know of students who will be graduating in August but would like to participate in the May ceremony, please have them fill out the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Student Speakers for SOE Commencement

• We are seeking nominations for student speakers for the ceremony. Please submit names of nominated student speakers to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu. Students should submit proposed remarks no later than Wednesday, April 17 to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu.
• Remarks for student speakers should be no longer than 600 words in length (max).

Updated information and deadline reminders regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony will be posted in SOE News each week under the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic, so please keep checking SOE News for Ceremony updates.

If you have any questions regarding the SOE Commencement Ceremony, please feel free to contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or (336) 256-1317.

SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic – Saturday, May 18

SOE Faculty, Staff, and their families are invited to the 2013 SOE Faculty/Staff Picnic, taking place on Saturday, May 18 from 2:00pm – 6:00pm at Bur-Mil Park, Shelter #2 (5834 Bur-Mil Club Rd., Greensboro, NC 27410).  Join us as we celebrate the conclusion of another school year with food, games, and family fun. Event will take place at Bur-Mil Park, rain or shine.

 Save the Date – Yopp Distinguished Speaker Series 2013-2014

The Yopp Distinguished Speaker Series in Mathematics Education has been announced for the 2013-2014 academic year. Click here to read the Series flyer. These talks are hosted by the UNCG Mathematics Education Group in the School of Education with generous support from the James D. and Johanna F. Yopp Endowment.

UNCG Campus Events

The UNCG Spartones Celebrate 16 Years on April 16th

The Spartones will be holding a very special spring concert this month to commemorate 16 years as an organization at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  Although the group has changed and grown over the years, our commitment to our alma mater and our community remains the same.  Come celebrate our continuing legacy and enjoy new exciting Spartones music.

Night-a-Cappella: “Super Sweet Sixteen CD Release Show”

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

Aycock Auditorium

Doors 7:00pm

Show 7:30pm

Tickets available at the UNCG Box Office call (336) 334-4849 for more information. Free Parking available after 6pm behind the Weatherspoon Art Museum on Tate Street.

This concert will feature the release of In Retrospect, the newest Spartones album produced by Liquid 5th productions.  For over a year, we have been pushing ourselves to complete this album and produce a high quality product for our fans. Through crowd sourcing we were able to fund our project and make this album a reality.  We want to thank all of our KickStarter donors for their help.  We cannot wait to share the new CD with you.  To see more of the recording process and learn more about how you can get a copy go to www.theuncgspartones.com/inretrospect/

The UNCG Spartones are the premier all-male acapella group at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  Since 1997, the Spartones have provided musical enjoyment and educational outreach to the Greater Greensboro area.  The principles of community, cooperation, and fun are important to this organization.  To learn more about the Spartones contact theuncgspartones@gmail.com.

The UNCG Spartones will be performing at this year’s School of Education Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 10, 2013.

Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Accomplishments

The following SOE students were recognized at the 25^th annual Scholars Recognition Program on April 14 in Aycock Auditorum, hosted by the UNCG Office of Multicultural Affairs:

• Melissa Ayers
• Stacy Bishop
• Craig Blevins
• Kaitlin Burris
• Madison Craft
• Kaila Dollard
• Kaiesha  Favors
• Jennifer Green
• Laken Hall
• Cynthia Hancock
• Alana Howie
• Nakeya  Lackey-Pinkney
• Rebekah Malizia
• Meaghan Mehling
• Melanie Merritt
• Tonya Peterson
• Payton Price
• Yazmin  Ruiz
• Erica Salone
• Leanna   Self
• Lauren Strickland
• Katie Sutherland
• Lena Troxtell
• Sonya West
• Heather Wilde
• Carlee Willey

Please take a moment to congratulate these students for their outstanding achievement at UNCG when you see them this week!

Congratulations to the following CED doctoral students who recently accepted their first assistant professor positions beginning in Fall 2013:

Janee’ Avent – University of Texas San Antonio
Lewis Bozard – University of West Georgia
Cheryl Fulton – Texas State University
Laura Jones – University of Northern Colorado
Lucy Lewis – Western Washington University
Ryan Reese – Oregon State University at Cascades
Laura Shannonhouse – University of Maine, Orono
Edward Wahesh – Villanova University
Ben Willis – University of Scranton

ELC faculty Craig Peck, Ulrich C. Reitzug, and Anna Brady (executive director, Piedmont Triad Leadership Academy) are included in the AERA Special Interest Annual newsletter called “The Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership SIG” in an AERA 2013 multi-paper session titled “How Race to the Top Funds Are Helping to Prepare Tomorrow’s Leaders Today”:  http://www.eyeoneducation.com/LTEL_SIG_Newsletter_2013.pdf

Congratulations to Jennifer Stephens, who has accepted the position of Student Placement Coordinator with UNCG SOE.  Her position became effective in March, and she has already begun meeting with local school officials and university representatives in the planning for next year’s placements.

UPDATE – Since March 1, the SOE Walking Team participating in the ‘Miles for Wellness’ Walking Challenge has traveled up the coastline of Florida, past Georgia, South Carolina, and are now in NC; as of last week, they were midway between Carolina Beach and Cape Lookout Lighthouse! The total team mileage as of last week is 853 miles, and as of the last posting they were in listed in third place of the tortoise teams participating in the program. Congratulations to team members Carol Resch, Jennifer Stephens, Cheryl Greenberg, Deb Ackerman, Allyson Lugo, Christina O’Connor, Babbette Mabe, Meggan Reagan, Annette Cline, and Holly Downs on their progress, and keep up the good work. Walk On, Team!!!

Recent Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mary V. Compton (SES Associate Professor) and doctoral students Megan Kemmery, Margo Appenzeller, and Stephanie- Gardiner-Walsh presented ‘On the Road Again: Itinerant Teachers of Students with Hearing Loss’ at the 2013 Council on Exceptional Children Convention and Expo on April 4 in San Antonio, Texas.

UNCG alumnus J. Ako Barnes, ELC faculty member Carol Mullen, and doctoral student Sheryl J. Lieb recently authored the following publication:

Barnes, J. A., Mullen, C. A., & Lieb, S. J. (2013, in press). Critical race theory in action: The freshman educational experience for students of color. Education Leadership Review.

UNCG alumna Bonnie Kosiczky and ELC faculty member Carol Mullen recently authored the following publication:

Kosiczky, B., & Mullen, C. A. (2013, in press). Humor in high school and the role of teacher leaders in school  public relations. Journal of School Public Relations, 34(1).

Class Project – The Human Race

Students in SES 460-01 are selling t-shirts to raise funds for mental health awareness in memory of the victims at Newtown and in conjunction with The Human Race on April 13 (http://www.volunteergso.org/programs/2013-human-race/). The t-shirts are $10. Students will be selling the t-shirts in SOE building lobby on Tuesday, April 9 from 2pm -4pm and Wednesday, April 10  from  9am – 3pm.

Summer 2013 Blackboard Courses

Summer 2013 Blackboard courses will be released to instructors on Reading Day (Wednesday, May 1st) by 10 am.

Students will be able to see their courses once instructors have made them available.

Varieties of Understanding – Request for Proposals

The Varieties of Understanding project will be a three-year initiative based at Fordham University in New York. It will examine the various ways in which human beings understand the world, how these types of understanding might be improved, and how they might be combined to produce an integrated understanding of the world.  For more information on the project, as well as information on funding opportunities, please visit www.varietiesofunderstanding.com

Current SOE Student to Present at UNCG SafeZone Lunch and Learn Series Tuesday, April 9

Current HED M.Ed. student Samyntha Francis will be presenting “What Equals a Family?” as part of the UNCG SafeZone Lunch and Learn series. Her presentation will be April 9, 12:30-1:30 pm. The Lunch and Learn series is a brown bag event.

Research Office News

The SOE Office of Research would like to spread the word about the following event on behalf of the Office of Sponsored Programs.  SOE faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend any and all chats!

The Office of Sponsored Programs and University Libraries is hosting a “Round-Table Chats” on the following topic:

1. Collaborations and Partnerships – Not Just A Response to the RFP (April 10th)

Location: Elliott University Center – Conference Room A

Time: 11:30am-1:00pm

Please drop-in anytime between 11:30-1:30, bring lunch and eat while taking the opportunity to ask questions and/or talk about each topic on those specific dates.

The chat will be hosted by Michelle Cole, Proposal Development Specialist in OSP, along with other invited guests depending on the topic. If successful, OSP will begin to offer more round-table ‘chat’ opportunities with various topics relating to grant-seeking in the fall…and eventually offer more in collaboration with other organizations and institutions.

2013 UNCG School of Education Alumni Awards Celebration

Featuring a special panel discussion on NC Education Reform in Early Literacy

Friday, April 12, 2013 • 3:00pm

School of Education Building, Room #120

Please join the UNCG School of Education as we celebrate the accomplishments of distinguished School of Education alumni for their dedicated service to UNCG and their communities during our annual Alumni Awards ceremony.

2013 Alumni Award Recipients

Early Career Award

Lynda Kellam

Laura Welfare

Distinguished Career Award

Kimberly Bowie

Larry Coble

Outstanding Achievement Award

Gail Marion

Donna Sundre

Distinguished Service Award

Melony Allen

Nancy & Tommy Teague

The Alumni Awards Celebration will begin at 3:00pm with a panel discussion on North Carolina Education Reform in Early Literacy, followed by the Awards Ceremony.

Topics to be discussed at the panel discussion include the Read to Achieve Initiative, description of reading 3-D assessments required in K-3 grades for the State of North Carolina, the impact on school systems, principals and administrators on these initiatives, as well as discussion on how the Read to Achieve Initiative, including the new Foundations of Reading teacher licensure exam, affects higher education faculty in their teacher preparation planning.

Guest panelists to include:

* Beth Folger, Chief Academic Officer, Guilford County Schools

* Carolyn Guthrie, Head of Division of Early Literacy, NC Department of Public Instruction

* Constance Hash, Principal, Forest Park Elementary School (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools)

*Pamela Williamson, Associate Professor, Specialized Education Services, UNCG School of Education

Dean Karen Wixson of the UNCG School of Education will serve as moderator for this discussion.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Reception to immediately follow awards ceremony.

For additional questions regarding the event, please contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or 336-256-1317.

American Sign Language Idol 2013 – Saturday, May 4

The SES department presents the 2013 American Sign Language Idol, taking place Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 3:00pm in the Elliott University Center Auditorium. Come enjoy students enjoying popular songs in ASL with music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, all the way to today’s songs! Money from ticket sales and donations will go to help our Deaf-Blind friends attend Camp Dogwood. For more information, click here to download the flyer.

2013 School of Education Commencement Information

The 2013 School of Education Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 6:00pm in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing).

Information regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony for graduating students can be found on the SOE home page (soe.uncg.edu) by clicking on the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic; or you can click here.

Please direct students to this web link if they have any questions regarding SOE Commencement.

For Faculty

• All Faculty who plan to participate in the School of Education Commencement should fill out the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form.Please RSVP your participation interest no later than Thursday, April 25.
• If you require regalia rental from the UNCG Bookstore, please indicate by completing the required fields in the link to the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form above by Thursday, April 25 so that we may place your regalia order. The Dean’s Office will place the order and will pay for your regalia; however, ALL FACULTY are responsible for picking up and returning their rental regalia to the UNCG Bookstore for the SOE Commencement Ceremony in a timely manner. (This is a new procedure this year; information on pickup and drop off deadline dates from the Bookstore will be included in the SOE News announcements closer to the event.)
• All faculty are asked to arrive no later than 5:00pm at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) on the 10th for line up for the Commencement Ceremony. The Faculty Holding Area will be in Meeting Room #2 of the Special Events Center. Please note that the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics will be hosting their Commencement Ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) directly prior to School of Education’s ceremony, so please allow additional time for arrival and parking.

Students Graduating in May

• Students graduating in May interested in participating in the Ceremony will need to complete the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Students Graduating in August 2013

• If you know of students who will be graduating in August but would like to participate in the May ceremony, please have them fill out the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Student Speakers for SOE Commencement

• We are seeking nominations for student speakers for the ceremony. Please submit names of nominated student speakers to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu. Students should submit proposed remarks no later than Wednesday, April 17 to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu.
• Remarks for student speakers should be no longer than 600 words in length (max).

Updated information and deadline reminders regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony will be posted in SOE News each week under the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic, so please keep checking SOE News for Ceremony updates.

If you have any questions regarding the SOE Commencement Ceremony, please feel free to contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or (336) 256-1317.

UNCG HR Information

Michael Arner, our Fidelity Investments Representative, will be on campus on Friday, April 12th in the Mossman HR Conference Room conducting 1:1 Retirement Planning Sessions from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

Consider meeting with your Fidelity Workplace Planning & Guidance Consultant if you need help:

• Managing your retirement savings goals
• Choosing from among a wide range of investments
• Building an investment plan that’s easy to put into action

To schedule an appointment, please go to www.fidelity.com/atwork/reservations or call 1-800-642-7131.

Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Accomplishments

SOE was well represented at the Graduate Research & Creativity Expo, held in Cone Ballroom on April 2.
Megan Kemmery, Margo Appenzeller, and Stephanie Gardiner-Walsh (SES) won First Place in the Professional Programs division for their presentation entitled “When Your Car is Your Classroom”. They will receive $1,000 and will be invited to represent UNCG at upcoming events such as the Graduate Fellowship Reception on April 18 and Graduate Education Day at the State Legislature in Raleigh on May 22.

Lucy Lewis (CED) won an Honorable Mention (2nd place) award in the Social Sciences category for her presentation of her research, “‘I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends’: The Role of Facebook on the School Adjustment of Newcomer Refugee Students.”

Terry Ackerman (SOE Associate Dean) has been selected as the recipient of the 2013 Samuel Messick Memorial Lecture Award, sponsored by the TOEFL Grants and Awards Program at Educational Testing Service (ETS). Terry will receive the award during the Language Testing Research Colloquium in Seoul, South Korea in July 2013, which is the annual conference for the International Language Testing Association. Congratulations, Terry!

On March 28^th, Barbara Levin and Ye He, co-directors of the TESOL for ALL grant, Colleen Fairbanks, TEHE department chair, and Traci Bellas, TEHE doctoral student, hosted six educators from Russia who came to the SOE to learn more about the preparation of pre-service and in-service teachers to work with the growing population of English learners in North Carolina. The visitors were invited by the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. During their 28-day stay in the U.S, they visited other states and attended the TESOL International Conference in Dallas. During their afternoon in the SOE they learned about SOE’s TESOL courses and professional development offerings. They also heard about the ESL program in Guilford County Schools from two members of the ESL Department at GCS: Soledad Lardies-Dunst and Jacqueline Martinez-Vesga. The guests also visited the Newcomer School in Greensboro, and were headed across campus to learn more about INTERLINK. They also had plans to visit the International Civil Rights Museum, and then they were off to Washington, DC and New York City. As a result of this meeting we look forward to future collaboration with our Russian guests.

First year CED student Chris Graham has recently been informed that he was selected as part of a competitive application process for paid summer interns through the Southern Education Foundation’s leadership program.  Per their website, “SEF aspires to develop the next generation of education policy leadership, and since 2004 has provided trainings and paid summer internships to a diverse and inspired group of 150 college and graduate level students interested in working with nonprofits and foundations to make systemic changes in Southern education policy and practice.”  Chris will be working with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities in San Antonio, TX.  We wish him a wonderful Texas-sized experience!

Bradley McKibben, a first year CED doctoral student, has been appointed as the student representative for the Publications Committee of the American Counseling Association.  Bradley begins his one year term on July 1, 2013.

The UNCG Library and Information Studies Alumni Association held its 2013 Alumni Day Luncheon on Saturday, March 23. Rebecca Tolley-Stokes received the Kovacs Award for Outstanding Alumni Achievement, and Susan Sharpless Smith presented the Cora Paul Bomar Lecture for this event.  (Pictured Left to Right: LIS Department Chair Clara Chu, Rebecca Tolley-Stokes, Bea Kovacs, Susan Sharpless Smith, and 2012-2013 LISAA President Amy Harris Houk.)

On Saturday, March 23, 2013, nearly 80 parents, students, and their families came to the School of Education at UNCG to participate in the Heritage Language Academy (HLA) graduation ceremony. The HLA program was developed as a university-school collaboration between the TESOL for ALL program at UNCG and Asheboro City Schools (ACS) in 2008. It aims at developing bilingual connections for students in both reading and math by building upon their home language backgrounds. Parents are also invited to participate in home literacy activities and a computer skills class. Dr. Barbara Levin and Dr. Ye He, co-PIs of the TESOL for ALL program, awarded certificates of completion to 22 parents and 37 elementary and middle school students this year. The 2013 HLA program was housed in Balfour Elementary School and North Asheboro Middle School with the support and leadership from ACS superintendent Dr. Diane Frost, assistant superintendent Jennifer Smith, principals Janet Means and Candace Call, assistant principals Holly White and Jordi Roman, and ESL lead teacher Dubraska Stines. HLA teachers included Carolina Agüero, Claudia Rodriguez, Meredith Wolfe, Melanie Golding, Marilu Arellano, and Sharon Cagle. It was also supported by Amanda and David Arellano, Asheboro High School Key Club, and other volunteers.

LISSA T-Shirt Fundraiser

The Library and Information Studies Student Association (LISSA), is selling their student-designed “I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie” T-shirts this semester to raise money for Murphey Traditional Academy in Greensboro. Murphey Academy is a K-5 school, and the money raised from t-shirt sales will go to buy books for its library! Click here to view the flyer.

T-shirts are $15, plus $5 for shipping as requested. The shirts are unisex and come in sizes S-2X. Please view the attached flyer for the t-shirt design, and email Heather Hans at h_hans@uncg.edu, or Jewel Davis at jewel.davis@gmail.com to order!

T-shirt orders are due by Monday, April 8.  Please include your name, email address, quantity, size(s), and address (if shipping is required) when you order.  If you are on the UNCG campus, a pickup location and time can be arranged.

Academy for Teaching and Learning Workshop Tuesday, April 2

You’re invited to participate in the Academy for Teaching and Learning
Workshop:

Wanna Flip Your Class? Start by Using Just-in-Time Teaching

Tuesday, April 2
2:00 – 3:30 pm
304 Dowdy Building
North Carolina A&T State University

PRESENTER:

Dr. Scott Simkins
Director, Academy for Teaching and Learning
North Carolina A&T State University
Co-Editor/Author (with Mark Maier):
Just in Time Teaching: Across the Disciplines, and Across the Academy,
Stylus, 2009

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW:

Are you thinking about “flipping your classroom” but aren’t quite sure how
to do it? Start by using Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) to “flip” the
typical teaching/learning experience: shifting typical in-class teaching
processes to out-of-class student learning activities and vice-versa. JiTT
is a valuable tool for introducing the “flipped” approach; it allows you
to “start small” and add more dimensions as you gain confidence in moving
from a teaching-centered to learning-centered classroom.

JiTT is a student centered approach to teaching and learning that makes
regular use of before-class questions or problems to make visible ­ to
both students and instructors ­ gaps in student understanding and the
nature of those gaps. Responses to pre-class JiTT questions are then used
to develop interactive in-class activities aimed at helping students
discover and address identified conceptual misunderstandings. By inverting
the typical teaching/learning process, JiTT can help instructors make
class time more effective for student learning. JiTT also facilitates the
development of students’ abilities to reflect on and regulate their own
learning processes, critical skills for deeper learning.

REGISTRATION:

Please register for this workshop at:

https://aggies.gosignmeup.com/

[Click on "Academy for Teaching and Learning", then "Upcoming Workshops",
find the workshop/session and "Add to Cart", then click on "Register" and
log in to complete registration]

Questions?  Contact Scott Simkins at simkinss@ncat.edu for more
information.

HealthyUNCG Brown Bag Lunch Series –Stress and Sleep – Tuesday, April 2

HealthyUNCG will present a Brown Bag Luncheon Series on Stress and Sleep on Tuesday, April 2 from 12pm-1pm in the Phillips Lounge of the EUC. Difficulty in sleeping is a common problem in our culture and can be particularly challenging in an collegiate environment. Not getting enough sleep can have detrimental effects on physical, mental, and emotional well-being. In this presentation, an overview of sleep and sleep cycles will be provided. Then, some of the problems linked with poor sleep will be described. Following that, the rest of the presentation will focus on improving sleep through changing activities that interfere with sleep and developing techniques linked with improved sleep. CLICK HERE to register.

Research Office News

The SOE Office of Research would like to spread the word about the following event on behalf of the Office of Sponsored Programs.  SOE faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend any and all chats!

The Office of Sponsored Programs and University Libraries are hosting a series of “Round-Table Chats” on the following topics:

1. New Guidelines and Trends at NEH, NSF and NIH (April 3rd)
2. Collaborations and Partnerships – Not Just A Response to the RFP (April 10th)

Times for each round-table is ‘drop-in’ anytime between 11:30 AM -1:30 PM.

Location: Elliott University Center – Conference Room A

Please drop-in anytime between 11:30-1:30, bring lunch and eat while taking the opportunity to ask questions and/or talk about each topic on those specific dates.

Chats will be hosted by Michelle Cole, Proposal Development Specialist in OSP, along with other invited guests depending on the topic. If successful, OSP will begin to offer more round-table ‘chat’ opportunities with various topics relating to grant-seeking in the fall…and eventually offer more in collaboration with other organizations and institutions.

International Student Panel: Sharing Experiences and Needs with Faculty – Thursday, April 4

The Access & Equity Committee and Coalition for Diverse Language Communities is hosting an informative panel discussion in which international students will share and discuss their learning needs with SOE faculty on Thursday, April 4 from 12:00-1:00pm in SOEB Room #401. For more information, contact Amy Vetter or view the flyer here.

Kendon Smith Lectures Series – April 4 and 5

The Kendon Smith Lectures is an endowed series hosted annually by the Department of Psychology, and the theme of this year’s series is “The Development of Scientific Reasoning”.  The lectures will be held Thursday afternoon, April 4, and Friday morning, April 5 in room 114 of the SOEB. For more information, please view the following:

Kendon Smith Lecture Flyer

Kendon Smith Schedule of Lectures

UNCG School of Education Online Learning Symposium – Friday, April 5

In collaboration with DCL, FTLC, and University Libraries the School of Education is hosting the first annual UNCG Online Learning Symposium on Friday, April 5th from 11:30-3 p.m. in the Alexander, Claxton, and Ferguson rooms of the EUC.

The keynote address will be given by Daniel Stanford, Assistant Director of DePaul University’s Faculty Instructional Technology Services, who will discuss the role gaming-design principles can play in educational courses. Dr. Stanford was the recent recipient of the national 2012 Sloan-C Award for Excellence in Faculty Development for Online Learning.

The primary goal of the event is to learn more and continue dialogue on online learning. Poster presenters will cover a wide spectrum of online initiatives being used at UNCG and institutions across the system.

Maggie O’Hara, Director of e-Learning for the UNC system, will be attending and providing a few closing remarks about the state of e-learning throughout the system and the Directors of Curriculum and Instruction for the North Carolina Virtual Public Schools will also be presenting.

Ultimately, however, this event was designed for SOE faculty and staff to learn more about online learning as we continue to increase our offerings in the online area.

If you have a free moment, please stop by for some or all of the event. Food and drink will be provided throughout and the event is completely free.

If you do not have to time to visit in person the event will also be streamed and tweeted in real-time and recorded.

In addition, a blog has been created where you can learn more about the presenters and communicate directly with them before, during, and after the session.

For more information:

• Event website
• Presenter and event blog
• Registration
• Live webcast and Twitter feeds

For more information, please contact:

• Anthony Chow, PhD, Director of Online Learning, UNCG School of Education, aschow@uncg.edu
• Becky Croxton, MLIS, Coordinator of Online Learning, UNCG School of Education, racroxto@uncg.edu

UNCG Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards Ceremony April 5

Chancellor Brady cordially invites you to the Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards Ceremony to be held Friday, April 5 at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of the EUC.The ceremony will reflect the dynamism, resilience, and uniqueness of UNCG’s incredible faculty and staff.

Please join us as we celebrate the achievements and outstanding service of our colleagues.  Each recipient will be recognized by the Chancellor and highlighted in short films created by our own talented UNCG students.

UniversityServiceAwardsrecipientswith30, 35 ,and 40 years of service will be recognized and the following awards will be presented:

• Alumni Teaching Excellence Award
• Gladys Strawn Bullard Award
• Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award (Graduate School)
• Student Learning Enhancement Award
• UNC Board of Governors Teaching Award
• University Staff Excellence Award

Please join us in celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of our colleagues. Light refreshments will be served after the ceremony.

LIS UnHushed Conference 2 to take place on Saturday, April 6

UnHushed Conference 2: From Talk to Walk: A Multicultural Information SkillShare, will be presented by LIS on Saturday, April 6, 2013, in the School of Education Building. View the event flyer here: http://rasmi22.wix.com/unhushedconference2

Current SOE Student to Present at UNCG SafeZone Lunch and Learn Series Tuesday, April 9

Current HED M.Ed. student Samyntha Francis will be presenting “What Equals a Family?” as part of the UNCG SafeZone Lunch and Learn series. Her presentation will be April 9, 12:30-1:30 pm. The Lunch and Learn series is a brown bag event.

2013 UNCG School of Education Alumni Awards Celebration

Featuring a special panel discussion on NC Education Reform in Early Literacy

Friday, April 12, 2013 • 3:00pm

School of Education Building, Room #120

Please join the UNCG School of Education as we celebrate the accomplishments of distinguished School of Education alumni for their dedicated service to UNCG and their communities during our annual Alumni Awards ceremony.

2013 Alumni Award Recipients

Early Career Award

Lynda Kellam

Laura Welfare

Distinguished Career Award

Kimberly Bowie

Larry Coble

Outstanding Achievement Award

Gail Marion

Donna Sundre

Distinguished Service Award

Melony Allen

Nancy & Tommy Teague

The Alumni Awards Celebration will begin at 3:00pm with a panel discussion on North Carolina Education Reform in Early Literacy, followed by the Awards Ceremony.

Topics to be discussed at the panel discussion include the Read to Achieve Initiative, description of reading 3-D assessments required in K-3 grades for the State of North Carolina, the impact on school systems, principals and administrators on these initiatives, as well as discussion on how the Read to Achieve Initiative, including the new Foundations of Reading teacher licensure exam, affects higher education faculty in their teacher preparation planning.

Guest panelists to include:

* Beth Folger, Chief Academic Officer, Guilford County Schools

* Carolyn Guthrie, Head of Division of Early Literacy, NC Department of Public Instruction

* Constance Hash, Principal, Forest Park Elementary School (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools)

*Pamela Williamson, Associate Professor, Specialized Education Services, UNCG School of Education

Dean Karen Wixson of the UNCG School of Education will serve as moderator for this discussion.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Reception to immediately follow awards ceremony.

For additional questions regarding the event, please contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or 336-256-1317.

 American Sign Language Idol 2013 – Saturday, May 4

The SES department presents the 2013 American Sign Language Idol, taking place Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 3:00pm in the Elliott University Center Auditorium. Come enjoy students enjoying popular songs in ASL with music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, all the way to today’s songs! Money from ticket sales and donations will go to help our Deaf-Blind friends attend Camp Dogwood. For more information, click here to download the flyer.

2013 School of Education Commencement Information

The 2013 School of Education Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 6:00pm in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing).

Information regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony for graduating students can be found on the SOE home page (soe.uncg.edu) by clicking on the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic; or you can click here.

Please direct students to this web link if they have any questions regarding SOE Commencement.

For Faculty

• All Faculty who plan to participate in the School of Education Commencement should fill out the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form.Please RSVP your participation interest no later than Thursday, April 25.
• If you require regalia rental from the UNCG Bookstore, please indicate by completing the required fields in the link to the Faculty RSVP Commencement Form above by Thursday, April 25 so that we may place your regalia order. The Dean’s Office will place the order and will pay for your regalia; however, ALL FACULTY are responsible for picking up and returning their rental regalia to the UNCG Bookstore for the SOE Commencement Ceremony in a timely manner. (This is a new procedure this year; information on pickup and drop off deadline dates from the Bookstore will be included in the SOE News announcements closer to the event.)
• All faculty are asked to arrive no later than 5:00pm at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) on the 10th for line up for the Commencement Ceremony. The Faculty Holding Area will be in Meeting Room #2 of the Special Events Center. Please note that the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics will be hosting their Commencement Ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (East Wing) directly prior to School of Education’s ceremony, so please allow additional time for arrival and parking.

Students Graduating in May

• Students graduating in May interested in participating in the Ceremony will need to complete the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Students Graduating in August 2013

• If you know of students who will be graduating in August but would like to participate in the May ceremony, please have them fill out the SOE Commencement Student Registration Form by Friday, April 5 for inclusion in the printed program. PLEASE NOTE: Doctoral students need to have defended by Friday, April 19 in order to have their names listed in the May Commencement program. If Doctoral students defend before SOE Commencement they are still allowed to walk in the SOE Commencement ceremony, however their names will not be listed in the Commencement program.

Student Speakers for SOE Commencement

• We are seeking nominations for student speakers for the ceremony. Please submit names of nominated student speakers to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu. Students should submit proposed remarks no later than Wednesday, April 17 to Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu.
• Remarks for student speakers should be no longer than 600 words in length (max).

Updated information and deadline reminders regarding the 2013 SOE Commencement Ceremony will be posted in SOE News each week under the ‘Commencement Information’ graphic, so please keep checking SOE News for Ceremony updates.

If you have any questions regarding the SOE Commencement Ceremony, please feel free to contact Rachel Williams at r_willi8@uncg.edu or (336) 256-1317.

Faculty/Staff/Student/Alumni Accomplishments

Several faculty, students, and alumni from the CED Department were honored by various professional organizations during the 2013 American Counseling Association conference, held in mid-March in Cincinnati, OH.  Congrats to all!

Chi Sigma Iota
Nicole Adamson – Outstanding Doctoral Student
Isabelle Ong – Outstanding Entry-level Student (Ms. Ong is an incoming doctoral student)

American Counseling Association
Dr. Christine Murray – Don Dinkmeyer Social Interest Award

Dr. Todd Lewis – Best Practices Award
Dr. Casey Barrio Minton (alum) – Best Practices Award

Nicole Adamson (doctoral student) – Courtland C Lee Multicultural Excellence Scholarship Award

International Association of Addictions and Offender Counselors

Dr. Todd Lewis – Counselor Educator Excellence Award

Kent State University
Dr. Kelly Wester – Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award

Association for Humanistic Counseling
Janee’ Avent (doctoral student)- Outstanding Dissertation Award

Dr. Bryce Hagedorn received the 2013 Alumni Excellence Award from the UNCG Department of Counseling and Educational Development on March 21st at the Department’s UNCG Alumni and Friends reception in Cincinnati during the American Counseling Association conference.  This award recognizes a CED alum who graduated at least five years ago and shows evidence of exemplary attainment in one or more areas of teaching and/or supervision, research/scholarship, professional service and leadership, as well as a commitment to continuing professional development.
Bryce, a 2003 graduate of the PhD program at UNCG, is an Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida where he is the Program Director of Counselor Education and School Psychology. He has research expertise in Motivational Interviewing and in process addictions. Bryce is the President-elect of ASERVIC and has served on the CACREP board as Vice-chair. His numerous awards include the UCF School of Education Teaching Award, SACES Locke-Paisley Outstanding Mentor Award, and the ACA Research Award, among many others.

Yopp Distinguished Professor Vicki Jacobs (TEHE) has been awarded the Division K Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education Award for her work with the publication Mathematics Teacher Noticing: Seeing through Teachers’ Eyes edited by Miriam Sherin, Victoria Jacobs, and Randolph Philipp from The Division K Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education Award Selection Committee. This volume addresses the artificial separation of teaching from learning that occurred in the 1970′s.  The conceptual framework of “noticing” marks the re-integration of the relationship of teaching and learning and frames how teacher’s teach in the context of learning when they learn where to look, what to look at, how to make sense of what they see, and how this stance is critical to supporting student learning as well as how to develop a learning as well as student-responsive approach. The committee unanimously agrees that this collection of essays provides a timely, powerful and detailed examination of the work of teachers. Congratulations, Vicki!

Edna Tan (TEHE) has received word that her book, Empowering Science and Mathematics Education in Urban Schools, has been selected to receive the Division B Outstanding Book Award for 2012 from American Educational Research Association.

From a review: “Empowering Science and Mathematics Education makes a compelling case for rethinking science and mathematics education through a critical sociocultural perspective and rich descriptions of ‘empowering learning environments’ in and out of school. By unpacking meanings of equity, equality, and enculturation, Edna Tan and Angela Calabrese Barton offer an important counterpoint to dominant assimilationist approaches to science and mathematics education.”

A big round of cheers and clapping for Edna!

Recent Faculty Publications & Presentations

Faculty and Students from the ELC Department have recently authored the following publications:

• Hewitt, Kimberly Kappler, Childers-McKee, Cherese, Hodges, Elizabeth, & Schuhler, Rhonda (Eds.). (2013). Postcards from the schoolhouse: Practitioner scholars examine contemporary issues in instructional leadership. Yipsalanti, MI: NCPEA Publications.
• Hewitt, Kimberly Kappler (2013) The tension of leadership: On being a practitioner scholar. In K. Hewitt, C. Childers-McKee, E. Hodges, & R. Schuhler (Eds.), Postcards from the schoolhouse: Practitioner scholars examine contemporary issues in instructional leadership (pp. 1-11).  Yipsalanti, MI: NCPEA Publications.
• Childers-McKee, Cherese (2013). A journey towards distributed teacher leadership. In K. Hewitt, C. Childers-McKee, E. Hodges, & R. Schuhler (Eds.), Postcards from the schoolhouse: Practitioner scholars examine contemporary issues in instructional leadership (pp. 78-90).  NCPEA Publications.
• Hill, Diane & Maness, Jean (2013). 21^st century learning: The call for change. In K. Hewitt, C. Childers-McKee, E. Hodges, & R. Schuhler (Eds.), Postcards from the schoolhouse: Practitioner scholars examine contemporary issues in instructional leadership (pp. 126-134).  NCPEA Publications.
• Hodge, Elizabeth & Schuhler, Rhonda (2013). Curricular consistency vs. instructional freedom: The inherent struggle that exists with national standards.  In K. Hewitt, C. Childers-McKee, E. Hodges, & R. Schuhler (Eds.), Postcards from the schoolhouse: Practitioner scholars examine contemporary issues in instructional leadership (pp. 135-145).  NCPEA Publications.
• Hewitt, Kimberly Kappler (2013). The use of value added for accountability and to inform leadership.  In K. Hewitt, C. Childers-McKee, E. Hodges, & R. Schuhler (Eds.), Postcards from the schoolhouse: Practitioner scholars examine contemporary issues in instructional leadership (pp. 161-183).  NCPEA Publications.
• Lashley, Carl & Woody, Aaron (2013). Practitioner scholar, instructional leader, public advocate. In K. Hewitt, C. Childers-McKee, E. Hodges, & R. Schuhler (Eds.), Postcards from the schoolhouse: Practitioner scholars examine contemporary issues in instructional leadership (pp. 184-196).  NCPEA Publications.

The UNCG Department of Counseling and Educational Development (CED) was well represented at the recent national annual conference of the American Counseling Association, the profession’s chief professional organization, held in Cincinnati, OH.  UNCG-affiliated persons were involved in 3 Pre-conference Learning Institutes (expanded continuing education workshops), and 50 conference presentations and poster sessions, on a variety of counseling practice and counseling research topics.  Presenters included 6 current faculty members, 11 current doctoral students, and 31 alumni.  Department members were especially pleased to see alumni presenting with their own students, taking part in”pass it on” mentoring!

Anthony Chow’s (LIS) book chapter entitled ‘The Usability of Digital Information Environments: Planning, Design, and Assessment’ was recently published in the book entitled

Trends, Discovery & People in the Digital Age released February 2013.

Anthony Chow (LIS), Kimberly Hewitt (ELC), and Holly Downs (ERM) interdisciplinary research on DPI’s IMPACT V state-wide technology integration project was accepted in the Association of Educational Communications and Technologies (AECT) international conference to be held in Anaheim, CA in October 2013. Their research focuses on utilizing system’s thinking and logic models to help align school goals with their technology integration along with the use of continuous assessment and evaluation analytics and metrics.

Dr. Laura M. Gonzalez (CED) was the invited keynote speaker at the annual Latin America and North Carolina spring seminar offered by World View : An International Program for Educators.  Her talk, given to approximately 200 K-12 and community college educators in Chapel Hill on March 19th, was entitled Caminos Al Futuro: Finding a Path Toward the Future for Latino Youth and Their Families.

Just published: Preventing College Student Suicide, volume no. 141 in the New Directions for Student Services series from Jossey-Bass, edited by TEHE faculty member Deborah J. Taub and Jason O. Robertson. This project resulted from Deb’s work on two Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention grants from SAMHSA (Substance Abused and Mental Health Administration). Chapter authors are GLS grantees. Incoming HED Clinical Assistant Professor Brad Johnson is a co-author of one of the chapters in the book (“Suicide Prevention for LGBT Students”). M.Ed. alumni Jalonda Thompson (“College Student Suicide,” with Taub), Julie Catanzarite, and Myles Robinson (“Peer Education in Campus Suicide Prevention”) are chapter co-authors. Current HED Ph.D. students Elizabeth Jodoin (“The Public Health Approach to Campus Suicide Prevention,” with Robertson) and Symphony Oxendine (“Suicide Prevention for LGBT Students,” with Johnson, Taub, and Robertson) also co-authored chapters.

1.    Your first book, But Don’t Call Me White: Mixed Race Women Exposing Nuances of Privilege and Oppression Politics was published a year ago. Could you please talk about your research behind this publication and what inspired you to write on this subject matter?

I address the answer to this question in the opening to my book, so I will share that here: I believe that the more intimately interconnected people feel—the more we take the time to learn about and connect with people across cultural differences—the less separation, segregation, and oppression there will be.  Connecting with others in a way that has the potential to minimize oppression, however, requires striving to understand the complex operations of privilege related to race, class, gender, and sexuality.  My beliefs about the importance of cross-cultural connections, my desire to do work that dismantles oppression, and my personal mixed race identity, led me to seek out life stories by mixed race women, individuals who simultaneously embody racially/ethnically oppressed and privileged identities and thus could speak directly to the challenges of deconstructing hierarchies built on emphasizing inequity in differences.  For this project, I conducted extensive interviews with 16 biracial women in three parts of the United States; each has one White parent and one parent who is a person of color.  I approached this research with a sociological lens searching for meaning related to issues of social justice: What can these women’s stories tell us about how to better communicate cross culturally?  How do their multiple positionalities – of gender, race, class, and sexuality – affect the ways in which they claim agency and are limited by structure? What do their stories reveal about racial politics?

2.    Could you describe ‘social justice activist teaching’ and why this topic is important to you?

When I was a graduate student I wrote a book chapter in which I identified seven skills, practices, and dispositions of activist social justice education.  The list includes:

1. Promoting a mind/body connection
2. Conducting artful facilitation that promotes critical thinking
3. Engaging in explicit discussions of power, privilege, and oppression
4. Maintaining compassion for students
5. Believing that change toward social justice is possible
6. Exercising self-care
7. Building critical communities

As I state in my chapter, these are not meant to be all-inclusive, but to engender critical discussions about activist teaching in hopes of promoting a more conscious connection between theory, politics, and practice.  Several years have passed since I originally wrote this manuscript, but I still believe in this type of activist teaching and strive to enact and embody it as an educator.  Having taught this chapter a few times now, what fascinates me is how the topic of exercising self-care seems to be what most students want to discuss; often they share stories of how little self care they have done since beginning graduate school, struggling to balance the high expectations of school, work, and family.  I feel passionate about modeling self-care and encouraging others to practice self-care, which I believe can be aided by engaging in critical communities.  Thus, I consciously strive to engage with students to promote community building.

3.    What do you enjoy most about the ELC program at UNCG?

The first line of our department statement of commitments reads: “The Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations is committed to the development of a just and caring democratic society in which schools serve as centers of inquiry and forces for social transformation.” I am honored to be a part of a group of committed faculty and students striving to promote justice and equity in education and beyond.  Having a background in community education, it was difficult for me to make the decision to remain in academia; however, I am inspired by the work of the students with whom I work. I see that the work we do together, as teachers and learners, has a direct impact on their lives as students and on the lives of the people with whom they work.  As they share stories of implementing what they learn, I know my work is making a difference far beyond the walls of the university.  This inspires me to be an increasingly better professor, mentor, and researcher.

4.    You actively mentor doctoral students in submitting conference proposals and preparing conference presentations at UNCG. What do you find most rewarding about this process?

When I was a graduate student, regularly attending conferences and engaging in every aspect of that process—writing proposals, preparing and conducting presentations, writing scholarly papers, working collaboratively with co-presenters, being offered opportunities to publish, engaging with peers across the country, connecting with people who became mentors—assisted in my preparation to become a successful scholar and faculty member.  My hope is that students with whom I work also gain valuable skills and experiences from attending conferences.  Furthermore, I envision the process of engaging in conferences as ripe with potential for critical community building.  When I began this mentoring process, it entailed a tremendous amount of work because students required significant guidance; however, over the years students have increasingly supported each other in preparing for and presenting at conferences, and I now have the pleasure of being one of many participants in this critical community building process.

5.    Can you share some highlights of your scholarly work over the past year or two?

My research revolves around work for the promotion of social justice. I choose projects that push me, and hopefully those engaged with my work, to better understand the theory and practice of education for social justice; ideally this understanding will inspire equity-promoting practices.  It is also important to me to engage in scholarly endeavors with other colleagues, both faculty and students.  One accomplishment that relates to my commitment to mentoring is that in 2012 I co-edited a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal, The Urban Review, on the topic of the educational and social significance of HBCUs in which four students from our department have single-authored publications.  I also co-authored a presentation and publication with a student from another department on the role of social media in the coming out process for individuals who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or queer.

Currently, I am preparing for a presentation at American Educational Research Association and am about to submit a related manuscript for publication that I co-wrote, with colleagues in the Teacher Education department, that is based upon research with refugees and immigrants to learn about their experiences, needs, and expectations of the United States school system.  This project came about as a result of my involvement in the Coalition for Diverse Language Communities.

In addition, I have been continuing my work on social justice activist teaching; I recently published an article titled “Navigating the guilt vs. innocence dichotomy in teaching for social justice.”  This year I was also invited to give two keynote addresses on the topic of social justice. These experiences were particularly meaningful to me, and I hope I inspired action and raised critical conscious related to social justice.  I am passionate about my pedagogy, and writing and speaking about this topic is important to me.  Relatedly, I have continued my work on critical community building.  Just last month, an article I co-authored was published in Educational Studies titled “Community building in social justice work: A critical approach.” Continuing with this line of research, last semester I embarked upon a qualitative research project in which I worked with students asking them what their thoughts and experiences are about community building.  I identify strongly as a qualitative researcher and I take a critical approach to my work, but for this project, I shifted to engage in collaborative, participatory, community engaged research.  With student participants, now co-researchers, we are submitting proposals and working on a collaboratively written manuscript to submit to a journal.  I am excited about this new shift to community-engaged research; working collaboratively with people fits best with who I am.  Recently, thanks to an invitation to from a colleague, and a Fellowship from the Coalition for Diverse Language Communities, I have embarked upon a new community-engaged project.  Although I enjoy writing and conducting research on my own, the process is much more enriching when done with others.  I look forward to increased reciprocal exchanges as I continue with my scholarly work.