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Requirements & Responsibilities
of Associate Professor of Arts
& Sciences |
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Master’s Degree in an Arts & Sciences related field and all
course work completed toward a Doctorate Degree in an Arts & Sciences
Field. |
I have a master’s degree in English and have successfully
completed all my course work and exams for my PhD in English Studies from
Illinois State University. Additionally, I passed both of my comprehensive
exams with distinction. Please see the letter from the Graduate Advisor of the English
Department at ISU.
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At least six years of teaching experiences at the college
level. |
I
have taught full-time for Methodist College since August of 2012. Please
see the letter from Dr. Poelvoorde
stating I have permission to apply for promotion. |
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Participate and lead in the development of curriculum. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor: Courses I have created the following courses: ·
ENG100A: Reading & Writing Lab ·
ENG100B: Writing Conventions Lab ·
HUM304: Ruining Your Childhood for College Credit ·
HUM309: Don't Stand So Close to Me · THE100: Theatre Appreciation I have done major revisions to the following courses that I
previously created: ·
LIT102: Stories that Matter in Film & Literature ·
HUM301: Beware! Monsters Inside · HUM303: Who Are You? Examining Identity *For a list of all the courses I have created, please visit my Curriculum Vitae. Minor I created the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusions Study Minor.
Not only does this minor support the college’s values, but it was also created
with one of the courses being a mandatory course in the students’ major. This
means the students can complete the minor without taking any additional hours
beyond what is required for a degree in their major. Program As the Writing & Reading Program Coordinator, I work with
faculty to create and revise Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) projects. I
create resources and assignment materials for the WAC projects based on the
needs and specifications of the faculty teaching the courses. The WAC projects
in a program are scaffolded, so the project in the 400-level course builds
off and furthers the skills and knowledge gained from the 200-level project.
Additionally, the drafting process and scoring rubric used for the WAC papers
are the same as the drafting process and scoring rubric used for papers in
the composition courses. This creates consistency throughout the Writing Program’s
curriculum. |
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Participate in development of strategic and systematic
planning. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor: Program I
had a leadership role in transforming the general education courses into a
cohesive program—LENSES. Degree
Program I
was part of the committee that created the new degree program—Bachelor of Science in Medical & Life Sciences. Strategic
Plan As
part of the Liberal Arts Sciences faculty, I helped create a strategic plan for
the 2021-2022 academic year. Along with Professor Getz, I took a lead role in
organizing the formatting and scope of the plan. |
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Chair College committees and take leadership role in College
activities. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor: I have chaired the following committees: · Liberal Arts & Sciences Congress, 2021-Present ·
Arts & Sciences Congress, 2018-2019 ·
Faculty Bylaws, 2018-2021 ·
Online Steering Committee (Co-Chair), 2018-Present ·
Methodist College Reads! Committee, 2017-Present · EDGE Run Committee (Co-Chair), 2017-Present I have also been the EDGE Run Race Director since I first led a
committee to create the race in 2013. |
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Participate and take leadership role in professional and social
activities related to the College, including accreditation activities. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor: ·
I have assisted in our accreditation by
planning, implementing, and assessing the assessment of our Undergraduate
Student Learning Outcomes. ·
I have helped to organize and
facilitate events at the college such as: o The
EDGE Run o Methodist
College Reads symposiums o Death
Cafés o Warm
Blankets for Warm Souls silent auctions & visits to nursing homes o Red
Cross blood drives ·
I have served as a judge for Scholarship
& Research Day |
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Mentor and serve as a role model for less experienced
colleagues. |
Once I embraced teaching online, I have learned a great deal about how to effectively and successfully teach online and how to robustly use our LMS, D2L. These skills and knowledge bases have allowed me to mentor and assist faculty and administrators in using D2L from both a technical standpoint and an effective design for teaching standpoint. I am often asked to help design their D2L sites and to help trouble shoot issues with D2L. I have even created tutorial videos to assist faculty with reoccurring issues and questions. As mentioned above, I have been involved in onboarding and mentoring new adjunct faculty as well as assisting current faculty with D2L, Teams, and online teaching and learning strategies, even before it was officially part of my duties as the Instructional Design Coordinator. I agreed to take on the role because we still did not have a Director of Teaching and Learning Innovation. With new adjunct faculty or faculty new to teaching online, I began by meeting with the faculty to orient them to D2L, CAMS, and Teams. I helped them create their D2L course sites by importing components from previous courses, importing my rubrics for their use, and creating a basic instructor widget for them to edit later. Additionally, I discussed with the faculty how they planned to conduct their classes online and offered them course design assistance and suggestions. I followed up with the faculty to make sure they were doing well in their courses. I also was their “safety net” in case they ran into any types of problems with D2L. In order to do that, I was put into their courses as an instructor. I found myself helping faculty at all times of the day, night, and weekends. But, to be honest, I actually liked it. Knowing how difficult it is dealing with a new class, a new LMS, etc., I was glad that I could be there for them. I have mentored several adjunct faculty. The most work I have done is with Dr. Kristen Strom. Kristen is an English adjunct who had never taught online before. I have worked with her to develop her online teaching skills as well as to understand our writing program’s goals and methods. I am currently doing the same type of mentoring with Dr. Oriana Gilson. Additionally, I believe I serve as a role model through all of the service work I do at Methodist College and in our community. Here is some of the service work I do at the college: ·
EDGE Run
Committee Co-Chair & Race Director ·
SGA Advisor ·
Blood Drive
Coordinator ·
MC Reads!
Chair ·
Phi Kappa Phi
Member ·
Death Café
Coordinator & Facilitator
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Participate in the assessment of undergraduate and general
education student learning outcomes. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor: Every
year, since 2017, I have assisted the Core Curriculum & USLO Committee in
planning and implementing the USLO assessment process. Additionally, as part
of the committee, I have assisted in reviewing the data from the assessments
and in determining strategies to address areas in which the findings
indicated a need for improvement. Moreover, during the day of assessment, I
often have presented information to the faculty regarding assessment and have
lead activities, such as norming sessions. |
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Additional cool stuff I want to share. |
Frankenworld I have done a lot of my scholarship on monsters and the monstrification of othered populations. Frankenstein, specifically, has been a focus of my work . One of the pieces of scholarship I am extremely proud of is my website, Frankenworld. This website discusses the novel and the impact Frankenstein has had on our culture. It also documents the myriad of transmediations of the novel. Frankenworld has been used by ICC and by faculty at other colleges when teaching Frankenstein. Online Student Learning D2L Site When the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, I took a lead role in creating and developing the Online Student Learning D2L site for our students, to assist them in their transition to online learning. One of the biggest concerns was how to help students effectively participate in remote learning. In response to this concern, I created a fun and informative video for the students about creating effective Online Learning Spaces. Additionally, Shelley Riney and I created the “Encouraging Words from…” video series of Methodist College employees helping to lift the spirits of the students and letting the students know that the college was there for them during that difficult time. Board Member of Popular Culture Association The Popular Culture Association (PCA)
is an interdisciplinary scholarly organization comprised of academic
professionals and scholars who study popular culture. The PCA hosts an annual
national conference and has two academic journals, The
Journal of Popular Culture and The Journal of American Culture.
In April of 2018, I was nominated by a faculty member at Illinois State
University to be a candidate for the Graduate Student Representative on the Executive
Board for the PCA. After sending my CV to the president of the board at the
time, Dr. Phil Simpson, and then interviewing with him, he selected me as his
top candidate. My CV and Dr. Simpson’s recommendation based on my interview
were presented to the board, and the members approved my appointment to the
board as the graduate representative. That position is a one-year appointment
that can be renewed twice for a total of three years of service. The next
president, Dr. Kathy Merlock Jackson, renewed my appointment twice, so I
served for the maximum amount of three years. At the end of my last year, spring
2021, I ran for an Elected Member at Large position on the board and, in June
2021, was elected by the membership of the PCA. I now serve as a full voting
member of the Executive Board of the PCA. Email from Student Hi, this email is just to say thank you for teaching this class. I know this is an important humanity credit but as someone who has been othered and monstrified for not only how I look (tattoos and stretched ears) but also because of who I am (LGBTQ+) this class is everything. I have been a monster to not only society but those I am supposed to call family and trust. This class would have done me so much good ten years ago and life would have made much more sense. I am happy to know the generation younger than me and my classmates have this opportunity to see things from the inside. This email is in no way to suck up, it is just to say, seriously, thank you. End of Semester Course Feedback Discussions & Student
Course Evaluations I receive feedback from students through both end of the semester discussions, in which I ask students to tell me one thing I should keep and one thing I should change in the course, and the anonymous student course evaluations. The majority of the feedback, from my students regarding my courses and their experiences in them, has been positive. Here are some excerpts from my students’ online discussions: LIT102: Stories that Matter in Film & Literature ·
I loved everything about this course.
There's nothing that should be changed. I loved this course because it
actually taught us something we all need to be educated about. Thank you for
taking the time teach people about what it’s like being black in America. I
wish every American would go through this course. (Note: this is from an African
American student) HUM304: Ruining Your Childhood for College Credit ·
I really enjoyed this class. I didn't
really know what to expect analyzing some of my favorite movies, but I feel
that I learned a lot of useful information. Taking these concepts and
watching how Disney incorporates them into their films and the potential
meaning behind them. Our discussion posts allow us to think of how we see/use
these concepts in our everyday lives and I really liked that because I think
knowing of these concepts can be super beneficial to those going into
healthcare. ·
At first I was nervous to take this
course, and that is only because of the pace and I did not know exactly what
it consisted of. I felt like this class was so beneficial for me because it
was a fun environment, during class we all were able to participate and many
things I learned from my classmates. I liked the fact that everyone had their
own understanding of a concept or movie and would share it with the class.
This class was one of the coolest class that I have taken, and I am so
grateful that the professor was understanding and respected everything that
we felt like sharing. I think that you should keep everything that you taught
in this course. What I enjoyed about this class is that I felt like I was
actually gaining knowledge, It’s crazy looking back from last week and seeing
how ignorant I was about certain concepts. ·
The class was just all around beneficial.
I think the information that we gained from this course will certainly help
us in our professions and in life. ·
I really learned a great deal more than
I thought I was going to! I actually really enjoyed this class. This is one
of the only classes that I actually had fun learning new things in all of the
classes I have had to take over the years. ·
I believe you opened our eyes to
looking at society and many different cultural concepts in a new way then
before, thank you. ·
I honestly thought this class was super
beneficial to my future. I think that everyone would benefit from taking this
course. I learned something new with each topic and I learned that I am not
as educated on cultural topics as I thought I was. ·
I absolutely loved this class. I am typically
the role model student for procrastination and waiting to do things last
minute. The only thing that I thought was so beneficial was how organized and
planned our days were. It really helped me be a better student and to stay on
top of my work at all times. I loved the lectures because you were able to
explain everything in a way that was easy to understand. There isn't anything
that I could think of for you to change about the course, it was the most
organized and structured class I have taken. HUM301: Beware! Monsters Inside ·
I think that this course is beneficial
for us, especially those of us going into the nursing field, to be able to
not only identify in ourselves when we may be participating in othering but
then how we can help to stop it. I think that most of us can see things these
days that are happening around us, maybe even in our own environments like at
work, and feel helpless to stop them. This course gives such a deep
understanding on how some of these issues happen and sometimes understanding
how something happens can give you the power to stand up to it. Plus we are
going to be dealing with every type of person in the world in our careers and
we have to be up front with ourselves about some of the stereotypes that we
may have formed along our lives. We need to face the fact that we have
participated in othering, even if we have not meant to. By doing this, and
having our new knowledge from this course, we can now begin to un-other, and
rebuild these thoughts in our minds. Without this course I personally could
not have had such a deep understanding on how some of the little things that
are done can lead to a deep impact on populations. And I am really happy that
I took this course because I know that what I have gained from it will only make
me a better nurse when caring for people. I do not think that anything really
should be fixed. My husband was taking a humanities course from another
college at the same time that I was taking this one, and his class was about
classical music and art work. He had to listen to the music and look at the
art and write about the pieces and how it made him feel and what message it
was relaying to the audience. While I understand how important these things
are, I personally think that a course like mine is so much more beneficial to
society today, especially when you look at the world around us. All you have
to do is turn on the news and see how much othering is affecting everyone in
the world. How could we all not benefit from learning about this. My husband
and I would have these kinds of discussions while we were both doing our
course work and he would tell me how jealous he was that his class was not
like mine. He and I both agreed that there was not as much of a benefit from
taking the course he had as there was in taking mine. Plus, the course work
was fun. We got to watch movies, music videos, and read Frankenstein, this was
a great class and something that I will definitely tell other people to take
because there is a lot of benefit to it and what is taken away from it. HUM309: Don’t Stand So Close to Me ·
Professor Karn, this class has been
super educational and provided me with resources for my future career. ·
I think that this course opened my eyes
in regards to many things that we regularly ignore or don't think about
unless it is brought to our attention. As health care professionals we need
to be aware of our surroundings and how others are being treated. ·
I think that learning about these
different diseases and how society views them is important. Before taking
this class I never truly thought of it, by having this information in mind
now, you can try and make a difference in your future career. ·
Overall, I really enjoyed this course
and I think it is a very interesting, relevant, and cool topic. I do not know
much about humanities and liberal arts as a whole, by this course has been
eye opening and was really a lot more beneficial in helping me see bigger
concepts than I originally thought it would be, as I really did not know what
we were getting into. This was a refreshing difference for us students for a
standard general education elective course and I think topics like this
should be more widely taught in healthcare professions. I really enjoyed the
discussion posts. I think getting conversations started, opinions and
concepts from our peers, and the thoughts really aide in learning and helping
us keep our minds open. I loved learning about monstrifying, othering, and
stigmas the most. I think this was a really important unit because (although
I am familiar with stigma) I had never heard of monstrifying and othering
before, and at the beginning of the unit I did not know what to expect, but
they really gave me a different way to categorize my own thoughts on how
others are treated and how to identify it and work to make sure we as future
healthcare workers fight to keep this out of the workplace and focus on the
number one thing, the clients. I also really enjoyed the interview segments
with some the outside sources. I also really liked listening to Professor
Karn speak and getting her perspective and points of view on the topics at
hand. Most of her videos were just brief and explanatory, but if I were to
retake the course, I would like to hear more from her in video format. One
thing I am on the fence about is some of the literature (specifically the
older English literature). I had a hard time understanding some of it, but
once I read it a few times and read through my peers’ discussions, it all
sort of clicked and gave a lot of purpose to what we were going over, for
example, The Masque of the Read Death. At first, I am thinking to myself,
what the heck am I reading?! But I read it a few times and all the metaphors
and hidden context just came to me. I really loved that story. Please peruse my most recent student course evaluations. |
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Responsibilities of Assistant
Professor of Arts & Sciences |
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Participate in development of strategic and systematic planning
activities |
See same criteria in Associate Professor. |
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Present scholarly information on local, state, national, and
international level. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor:
· Reclaiming the
W-Word: Witch as Champion of Feminism in American Horror Story & The
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Popular Culture Association National Conference, 2021 · Othering: How
Pandemics and Disease May Create a New Class of Untouchables Co-presented with Octavian Gabor Peoria Area World Affairs Council, 2021 · Online Course
Discussions Co-presented with Candace Florence & Shelley Riney Share & Prepare: Online Teaching & Learning Workshops Methodist College, 2021 · Mary Shelley &
200+ Years of Frankenstein Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) Bradley University, 2021 (link to thank you email & feedback) · Monstrification of
Others Guest Lecture University of Arkansas, 2020 (link to emails regarding my impact on students) · Making Rubrics Work
for You Co-presented with June West MC Pedagogy Series Methodist College, 2020 · Teaching with
Vampires [Roundtable Panelist] Popular Culture Association National Conference, 2020* *(cancelled due to Coronavirus pandemic) · Friday at 40:
Assessing Friday the 13th [Roundtable Panelist] Popular Culture Association National Conference,
2020* *(cancelled due to Coronavirus pandemic) · Monsters Teaching Us
to Be Human: Teaching Empathy & Advocacy through Monster Texts Humanities Education Research
Association National Conference, 2020
(link to conference program) (link to presentation) · From Horror to
Terror: American Transmediations of Frankenstein International Gothic
Association Conference, 2019 · “It’s Alive!”:
Sparking Students’ Interest in Critical Analysis with Frankenstein Popular Culture
Association National Conference, 2019 · 200 Years of
Frankenworld One Book, One College Illinois Central
College, 2018 · Monsters vs Villains PBS: The Great
American Read Series Peoria Public Library, 2018 · Nazi Devils and
Jewish Werewolves: The Horror of De-humanization in John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London Monstra II:
Simbologie e Funzionalita degli Esseri Mostruosi Museum of Religions
in Rome, Italy, 2018 (link to article with conference program) · Warm Bodies Peoria Reads! Peoria Public Library, 2018 · Nazi Demons and
Jewish Werewolves: The Horror of Dehumanization in John Landis’ An American Werewolf
in London Popular Culture
Association National Conference, 2018 *For
a comprehensive list of my scholarly presentations, please see my Curriculum Vitae. |
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Begin to identify research projects and participate in these
alone or with other college professionals. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor: I have conducted two IRB approved research projects in
which I collected data from my courses to analyze the effectiveness of using
monsters to teach awareness of and empathy for othered populations and how
they are treated by mainstream society. This data has been used in scholarly
papers and presentations. Additionally, it has informed my revision of
assignments and lessons. |
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Seek opportunities to include students in research activities. |
Since becoming an Assistant Professor: I have used my students’ assignments in my research. The students agreed to allow me to include their analyses in my research studies. (See IRB item above.) In ENG201: Disciplinary Composition and HUM309: Don’t Stand So Close to Me, students have research projects that include both primary and secondary research. Students are responsible for designing interview questions and incorporating their findings in their papers. As
a Student Government Association advisor, I have guided students in
conducting research to support their proposals to administration and to assess
the needs and wants of the students at Methodist College. |
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Mentor less experienced faculty on both an informal and formal
basis. |
See similar criteria in Associate Professor. |
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Participate in the assessment of undergraduate and general
education student learning outcomes. |
See
similar criteria in Associate Professor. |
