Miami University

2008-09 Highlights

The 2008-09 academic year proved to be outstanding for the School of Education, Health and Society, according to Dean Carine Feyten. Among the division’s accomplishments:

Grants
The annual total of grants received by faculty in the School of Education, Health and Society (EHS) continues to soar. The total for 2008-09 is $5.9 compared to $3.4 million in 2007-08, a 73 percent increase. In the past six years, grants to EHS have skyrocketed by more than 350 percent.

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Accreditation
Miami’s NCATE accreditation is renewed every six years, and an NCATE team of experts visited campus this spring. While the final report is not due until fall, the preliminary report was unprecedented. Not one single area of improvement was noted, a first for Miami and Ohio. The NCATE team leader, who has led reviews for years, said she’s never seen anything like it in her entire career.

Faculty searches
EHS has hired 10 new faculty members for the 2009-10 academic year. As a group they are expected to exemplify EHS’ commitment to innovative, interdisciplinary teaching and research.

Yield effort
EHS launched a special project utilizing postcards and personalized emails in spring 2009 designed to enhance admission efforts and increase the percentage of students accepted to Miami who actually enroll. When the May 1 deadline for students accepting admission offers arrived EHS led all other academic divisions in yield. EHS will welcome approximately 450 new majors or pre-majors in fall 2009.

Web sites
In the 2008-09 academic year EHS completed a total revamping of the divisional and departmental websites.

 

Honors and Recognition

In 2009, graduates of EHS were named Ohio high school principal of the year and Ohio student teacher of the year. In addition, Doris Bergen, professor of educational psychology, was inducted as an inaugural Fellow of the American Education Research Association. Here is a sampling of those and other recent honors:

 

 

 

 

 

• Helaine Alessio, chair of kinesiology and health, received the Founders Award from the Midwest Regional Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine in recognition of outstanding service.

   

  In addition, junior exercise science major Hayden Ansinelli received an award for the best undergraduate research poster for her presentation on “A Structured Pediatric Rehabilitation Exercise Program Results in Increased Physical Activity and Fitness for Single Ventricle Children.” The award included a check for $150 (October 2009).

• Michael Dantley, associate provost and professor of educational leadership, gave the keynote lecture on educational leadership and social justice for the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services (NCLSCS) in London, England, Sept. 24. 


• Craig Divis, who graduated from Miami University in 2003 with a major in integrated social studies education and minors in history and political science, has been named 2010 Vermont Teacher of the Year. (September 2010)
• Melissa Chase, associate dean, School of Education, Health and Society and associate professor, kinesiology and health department, was named a Fellow for the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. (September 2009)
• Kate Rousmaniere, chair of EDL, was elected president to a three-year term as president of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education (ISCHE) at the organization’s annual meeting in Utrecht, the Netherlands. (August 2009)
• Two of nine students receiving 2009 Provost's Student Academic Achievement Awards worked on out-of-classroom projects with EHS faculty members.  Nicole Mitchell and Benjamin L. Walker were honored for their academic accomplishments at Miami's fall convocation. (August 2009)

• Doris Bergen, Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology, was inducted as an inaugural Fellow of the American Education Research Association, an organization that encourages inquiry about educational topics that serves the public good, at AERA’s national meeting April 14 in San Diego. (April 2009).

• Jason Abbitt and Michele Dickey, educational psychology department, are among 10 educators honored statewide for using technological innovation to reduce the cost of textbooks to students. The award, which included a $1,000 honorarium, recognizes the use of innovative, affordable instructional materials. (March 2009)
• The Ohio Association of Secondary School Administration has named James Schoenlein, principal of Kettering-Fairmont High School, the 2009 Ohio High School Principal of the Year.
  Schoenlein earned three degrees from Miami, including a master of arts in teaching in 1979, a master of educational leadership in 1984 and a doctorate in educational leadership 1993. (March 2009)
• The Ohio Association of Teacher Educators has named Curtis Bradshaw, a December 2008 graduate, Ohio’s 2008 Outstanding Student Teacher.

  Bradshaw, who majored in middle childhood language arts and social studies education, student taught at Clinton-Massie Middle School. (March 2009)

• Robin Purdy, who graduated from Miami University in December 2008, won first place and an $600 award in the post-secondary category of a podcast competition sponsored by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).(February 2009)
  
• Alexandria Espy, a health studies major at Miami University, received the Legacy Award at the Black Student Leadership Development Conference held in Washington, D.C. Jan. 8-11. (February 2009)
• James M. Smith, who earned his doctorate in educational leadership ('88) and his undergraduate degree in elementary education ('79) has been named president of Northern State University, Aberdeen, S.D. (February 2009)
• Sheri Leafgren, an assistant professor in teacher education, won outstanding dissertation awards for 2008 from two separate professional organizations, including the Curriculum and Pedagogy Conference and the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (January 2009).
  

• James Shiveley, chair of teacher education department, was named the Charles and Frances Condit Endowed Professor by Miami President David Hodge (October 2008).
• The annual total of grants received by faculty in the School of Education, Health and Society (EHS) has soared by more than 150 percent in the past five years—from $1.3 million in 2003-04 to $3.4 million in 2007-08 (October 2008).
• Dennis Carlson, professor of educational leadership, has received a two-year $275,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to fund two "summits" that will bring together top scholars along with community activists and public educators to take part in "complicated conversations" about youth culture and sexuality (October 2008).
• Kevin Smith, a doctoral student in educational administration at Miami University, is the first Miami recipient of a Welsh-American Academy Visiting Fellowship awarded by the Welsh-American Academy at Trinity College, Carmarthen, Wales (October 2008).
• Beginning in fall 2008, Miami students may major in Chinese language education. The program is the first undergraduate licensure program in Ohio. Graduates will be eligible to teach Chinese in grades pre-K through 12 (August 2008).
• The Digital Learning Lounge will help Miami graduates transform teaching and learning.
  The Digital Learning Lounge (DLL), located at 214 McGuffey Hall, includes state-of-the-art multimedia software and hardware, a small group meeting space, and a podcasting room. The goal is to
  create an environment that encourages collaboration and informal learning so that Miami students will master not just technological skills, but how technology can be used to actively create knowledge in the classroom (May 2008).
  
  
• Tom Romano, professor of teacher education, was named as one of two inaugural Naus Family Faculty Scholars in spring 2008.
  The program, funded by a $250,000 gift to Miami’s For Love and Honor Campaign by James and Susan Naus, both class of ’67, supports faculty who exemplify the best of Miami’s traditions (April 2008).
• Randal Claytor (kinesiology and health) is the 2008 receipient of the Richard T. Delp Outstanding Faculty Award from Miami University’s School of Education, Health and Society (April 2008).
• A novel by Miami alum Tracie Vaughn Zimmer ('96, master of education) has been awarded the Schneider Family Book Award from the American Library Association. The book, Reaching for the Sun, uses poems to tell the story of a year in the life of a middle-school student who has cerebral palsy.
• Keith Zullig (kinesiology and health) was one of nine candidates inducted as a Research Consortium Fellow at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) convention (April 2008).

• Jaclyn R. Saurber, a senior special education major, has been selected to present the findings of her Undergraduate Summer Scholar research project at the National Council for Exceptional Children convention in Boston in April. She’ll be participating in a roundtable discussion session normally reserved for doctoral students, said her faculty advisor, Leah Washburn-Moses (educational psychology). (February 2008).

• The Association for the Study of Higher Education presented Marcia Baxter Magolda (educational leadership) with its annual Research Achievement Award (November, 2007).
• Tom Romano (Teacher Education) was named the 2007 Effective Educator by the Miami University Alumni Association.
• Doris Bergen (Educational Psychology) is one of only a dozen Miami faculty members to be awarded the title of Distinguished Professor by Miami’s Board of Trustees since the program begin in 1981 (2007).
• Tom Poetter (Educational Leadership), director of Miami’s Partnership Office, is one of only 30 university and school district educators in the nation to be recognized for his contributions to the Institute for Educational Inquiry’s Agenda for Education in a Democracy (2007).
• Karen Montgomery (Teacher Education) was named 2007’s Outstanding Professor by Miami’s Associated Student Government. More then 50 professors were nominated for the honor.  
• Miami is only the 2nd university in the country to initiate a Partners for School Health Program with a major school district and the American Heart Association.   The collaborative effort is aimed at reducing the epidemic of children’s obesity.  Nationally, 18 percent of children are obese. In Cincinnati it’s more than double that—38 percent (2007). 
• A new Ph.D in Student Affairs in Higher Education has been approved.  The doctoral program focuses on student learning and the role of student affairs in promoting learning.  The holistic approach to undergraduate education embodied in the program blurs the traditional boundaries between the academic side of the university and student affairs (2007).
• EHS external funding increased by more than 250 percent from the 2004-05 academic year to 2005-06, from $1.75 million to $4.5 million (2007)).
• EHS faculty are piloting Miami’s ITunes U participation (2007). 
• EHS was awarded a five-year $1.5 million grant aimed at helping address the challenges of teaching students who are not native English speakers.  It will be used to help preservice teachers and other school personnel learn to more effectively accommodate English language learners in regular classroom settings.
• EHS’s innovative alternate special education licensure program (created in partnership with the Ohio Department. of Education via a $400,000 grant) can boast of a 100 percent Praxis II rate to date (Praxis tests are required for teacher licensure in Ohio).  Of the 25 teachers in the initial phase, 22 completed the program.  The second group had 27 teachers add the special education licensure to their credentials.  EHS is the first and only university in the state to offer an online alternative certification program for special educators.   The program was cited as a model program for online certification by ODE. 
• Tamara Long, a first-year school psychology graduate student, was one of only five students nationwide to be named a recipient of the highly selective $5,000 minority scholarship from the National Association of School Psychologists (2007).
• Paula Saine (Teacher Education) was awarded Miami’s “Distinguished Woman of Color” Award. She is the third faculty member from EHS to be so honored in the past five years. Other faculty award winners include Iris Johnson (Teacher Education) in 2003 and Susan Mosley-Howard (Educational Leadership and Dean of Students) in 2005 (2007). 
• Dr. G. Nathan Carnes, who earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Miami in 1980 and 1996, was named the Outstanding Science Educator of the Year (Level 1) by the Association for Science Teacher Education.  He is a faculty member at the University of South Carolina (2007).
• Tom Romano (Teacher Education), who teaches English methods and writing, won first place honors for best broadcast writing in the 2007 Associated Press competition.
• For the third time in four years, a Miami student teacher supervisor was awarded the top state honor for such professionals from the Ohio Association of Teacher Educators (OATE).  Judith A. Wyckoff received the outstanding supervisor award in honor of the guidance and mentoring she has provided to more than 65 Miami physical education and health student teachers since 2000 (2007).
• “I Can, Can You,” a children’s book by Marjorie Pitzer (instructor, Educational Pyschology) has been named a top 40 book for children with disabilities by the International Board of Books for Young People. Pitzer is also an intervention specialist at Winton Forest Elementary (2007).
• Dr. Kathy McMahon-Klosterman (Educational Psychology) was named the winner of Miami University’s most prestigious teaching honor, the E. Phillips Knox Teaching Award (2006).
• A children’s picture book database project by Dr. Valerie Ubbes (Physical Education, Health and Sport Studies) was named one of the “101 Best Web Sites for Elementary Teachers” by the International Society for Technology in Education (2006).
• Dr. Gary (Pete) Peterson (Family Studies and Social Work) was named a National Council on Family Relations Fellow in recognition of his outstanding scholarly achievements and leadership on family issues (2006).
• Kathleen (Allen) Cawrse, a 1975 Miami teacher education graduate, received an American Stars of Teaching Award from the U.S. Department of Education (2006).