Linda Buturian, senior teaching specialist in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, recently published a book. Linda will be giving a reading from the book, entitled World Gone Beautiful: Life Along the Rum River, at Common Good Books this Sunday, August 10, at 3:00 p.m. and at Magers & Quinn on Friday, August 22, at 7:30 p.m.
Congratulations Linda!
Assistant Professor Karen Miksch (Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) recently presented her paper "Academic Freedom and the Diversity Rational" at the annual American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in New York. She was also named the Program Chair for the AERA Law and Education SIG for the 2009 annual conference and Legal Counsel for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). She will begin her duties at the summer board meeting in June.
Jeanne Higbee, professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, presented on the topic of "Assessing the Implementation of Universal Instructional Design: Multiple Approaches" at the Pacific Rim Conference on Disability in Hawai'i this month.
Assistant Professor Irene Duranczyk (Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) was an invited, keynote speaker for a conference sponsored by the Midstates Consortium for Math and Science (funded by the Pew Foundation) held in Colorado Springs at Colorado College from April 18 to 20. The focus of the three-day workshop was “Sharing best practices for serving students and faculty at Science and Math Teaching and Learning Centers." Irene’s keynote address and workshop was “Implementing Universal Instructional Design (UID) in Math and Science Teaching and Learning Centers."
Assistant Professor Sue Staats (Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) was recently an invited presenter at a symposium on "Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Multilingual Classrooms" in Johannesburg, South Africa. She led teaching workshops for high school and undergraduate teachers and consulted with graduate students on their discourse research in mathematics classrooms in South Africa, Swaziland, and Malawi.
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Associate Professor Leon Hsu (Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) has received a Morse Alumni Award from the University. The award honors outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. This year's awards will be presented on Monday, April 28, at 3:30 p.m. at the McNamara Alumni Center.
Congratulations Leon!
During half-time of Sunday's game versus Toronto, the Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation presented a $10,000 grant to the College in support of the African American Read-In. The Read-In is an annual event in which thousands of young readers from around the world come together in groups to read works from African American authors, with the mission of promoting literacy and closing the gap between African American students and other students. The Foundation's grant will be used to purchase books and other curriculum materials to support African American Read-Ins around the state.
Professor Bill Doherty (Family Social Science) and Assistant Professor Karen Miksch (Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) served on the University's 2006-2007 Academic Freedom and Tenure committee, a group charged with revising the University's tenure policy. The new "Procedures for Reviewing Candidates for Tenure and/or Promotion: Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty" went into effect in October.
"Tenure policy revised in historic effort"
UMN Brief (Minn.) Dec. 19, 2007
Karen Miksch, assistant professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, presented two papers at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) in Louisville, Kentucky (November 7 to 10, 2007). She presented her case-study research on how attorneys and expert witnesses can work together more effectively in equity and access cases in a symposium titled “Crossing the Bar: Higher Education Research in Legal Cases." The panel included Professors Walter Allen, Clif Conrad, Donald Heller, and Ed St. John who all spoke about their work as experts on desegregation and access cases.
Karen also presented a paper on the legal and ethical ramifications of the student loan scandal at a Presidential Invited Panel. The other panelists were Diana Auer Jones, U. S. Department of Education Undersecretary for Postsecondary Education, and Barmak Nassarain, Director of the American Association of Registrars and Admission Officers. Karen also conducted a roundtable session at the Public Policy Forum for graduate students and others interested in how to conduct legal research to inform higher education policy.
Assistant Professor Tabitha Grier (postsecondary teaching and learning) and educational psychology doctoral students Nicole Skaar and Julia Conkel will present a paper at the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) convention in February. The paper will cover their work at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis and an alternative school in Iowa.
Tabitha Grier, assistant professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, received a Grant in Aid of Research, Scholarship, and Artistry from the University this year. Tabitha is currently using the grant funds to pilot career education in north MInneapolis at Patrick Henry High School.
Karen Miksch, assistant professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, recently had a chapter published.
The Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning (PsTL) has been selected to receive the Outstanding Unit Award for Professional and Academic (P&A) employees for the 2006-07 academic year. Reviewers of the award nomination commented that “I thought this was an excellent nomination—-I wish I worked there!" and “I was inspired by how they have pulled together through their transition and been so deliberate about their reconstruction."
The department will receive a $1,000 professional development stipend for its P&A staff members and a plaque in recognition of the initiatives and activities that support the P&A employees within PsTL.
Several members of the College community received awards from the Women's Philanthropic Leadership Circle (WPLC) this year:
Advisers from the Office of Student and Professsional Services recently attended the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Regional Conference in Duluth, making several presentations and winning an award:
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Randy Moore, professor of postsecondary teaching and learning, was a recipient of the 2006 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's Minnesota Professor of the Year Award. The award recognizes professors for their influence on teaching and their outstanding commitment to teaching undergraduate students.
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Na’im Madyun, assistant professor of postsecondary teaching and learning, was invited to serve in a two-year position on the editorial board of Education and Urban Society, a journal for communicating new knowledge on educational processes, controversies, research, and policy.