February 2015

Faculty Newsletter

In This Issue Message from the Dean

Message from the Dean

Capstone in the Community With all the change Academic Coaching for Students underway in higher education, I wanted to Faculty Academic Council make sure you saw how

Students Can Now be Added to Joseph Aoun, president of Waitlist Northeastern, has responded to the draft Faculty Publications & Presentations federal rating system for colleges and universities. Graduate & Undergraduate Open Houses In a letter to U.S.

Faculty Member Takes Over Education Secretary Arne Transportation Role Duncan, President Aoun outlined a series of metrics Staff Member and Student for universities to Featured in The Globe implement to help families gain access to more reliable and

Huntington 100 Nominations transparent information about how likely students are to complete their degree on time and secure meaningful Aligns employment or advance to further their education. As President Regional Programs Aoun's actions show, you are part of an institution that is

Share + Care Session contributing to the national discussion in meaningful ways and to the improvement of higher education. We Want to Hear from You!

Connect! Sincerely,

John LaBrie Dean

Project Management Faculty Member Creates "Capstone in the Community"

When Art LaMan, MS, PMP, thought about the Capstone course of the in Project Management he drew on decades of Northeastern's history in experiential learning to create something new.

Last year, LaMan and his students in the Project Management Capstone course brought together all of the principles and practices of formal project management as they developed project plans for non-profit clients in the area.

LaMan partnered with Northeastern University Service-Learning to identify non-profit organizations that would benefit from the creation of a formal project plan for one of their future projects. The students also worked internally within the College to develop a plan for a TEDx event focused on urban education. Three capstone projects involving 16 students were completed as part of a pilot effort in the 2014 fall term:

• A fundraising plan for the youth organization promoting engagement in democracy called "Generation Citizen" • A fundraising plan for "Sneakers to Beakers," an afterschool program for elementary and high school students focused on youth development via sports and the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) • The creation of a plan for a TedX talk focused on urban education with Kelly Cameron, Assistant Director,

LaMan notes: "The focus of the Capstone class is the creation of a project plan for an effort which is temporary, with a definite start and end date, which creates a unique product, service, or result and will take place sometime in the future, after the end of the class in late March 2015. The students work to clearly define project requirements; to identify stakeholders, their interests, and how to communicate with them; to develop risk and quality plans; and outline considerations relative to and social responsibility within the context of the project."

The creation of these project plans with the context of the Capstone course differs from the usual service-learning opportunities that Northeastern connects students to because students engage in a comprehensive planning process rather than implement an already established program.

After an exploratory project in 2013 and a pilot in 2014, what's next for "Capstone in the Community?" The Winter 2015 class is currently working on a website development project plan for "Vibrant Boston," a group dedicated to providing services to youth in the Boston area and LaMan is looking for ways to expand the program and possibly involve co-op. He is also working to identify and secure new clients for future rounds, possibly outside the Boston area and welcomes input from interested faculty.

Academic Coaching for At-Risk Students

In the Fall 2014 quarter, the Office of Academic and Student Support Services launched an academic coaching pilot project designed to offer early intervention for at-risk students. Beverly Ballaro, Assistant Director for Academic and Student Affairs, identified a pool of participants drawn from her caseload of all students on academic warning, probation, and dismissal override. "The rationale behind an intrusive advising approach," says Ballaro, "is to motivate students to improve their skills and seek out appropriate support before a situation arises that cannot easily be remedied." Student participants in the pilot received weekly outreach on 12 themes including planning and organization, class participation, academic integrity, tutoring resources, intellectual curiosity, and self-assessment. Each weekly module contained a voluntary exercise related to the weekly theme. Students were also asked to provide a mini progress report at the end of each week in which they identified their struggles and triumphs.

Most of the students involved in the pilot responded positively. "For many of these students," says Ballaro, "doing a weekly check-in served as a means of keeping them accountable to themselves. They appreciated receiving the tools and guidance they needed to fulfill their best potential and feeling like they had an ally in their quest to succeed." Plans are underway to develop the pilot into an advising approach that can reach students on a larger scale in future terms.

Faculty Academic Council

The next meeting of the College of Professional Studies Faculty Academic Council is Wednesday, March 11, from 10:00 A.M.- 12:00 P.M. in conference room C3-140A, in 101 Belvidere. All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to Grant Dauber at [email protected].

Click here to access the minutes from the last meeting, which took place on January 14, 2015 (the February meeting was canceled). When accessing this link, you will need to sign in as you do to the Northeastern system.

Students Now Added to Waitlist, for Closed Classes

Starting in the Spring term, the College has begun utilizing a special software feature that will give students, who attempt to register for a class that is closed (due to an enrollment cap), the opportunity to be placed on a waitlist. Please note that not all sections will have the waitlist option.

The waitlist functionality was rolled out for undergraduate students at the University approximately one year ago and was very well received by students. For more information please contact your Program Manager or click here for a list of student frequently asked questions.

Faculty Publications and Presentations

In addition to teaching, faculty members have been sharing their knowledge and work with colleagues through articles and conference presentations.

Publications

Rick Arrowood, JD Faculty member, Non-profit Management, Leadership Arrowood, R., Kampits, E., Gregory-Mina, H. 2014. Setting the Stage for 'Good, Better, or Just Right' in Online and Blended Graduate Courses (347-355), Open Praxis, 6, No. 4, International Council for Open and

Cordula A. Robinson, PhD Faculty member, Geographic Information Technology Robinson, C.A. and Flewelling, D. (2015):Human-centric Data Immersion, Trajectory Magazine, Feb. 2015

Presentations

Rick Arrowood, JD Presenter, "You Can See the Tree, Even in a Forest: Transforming Learning Paradigms for Global Leadership, 11th Annual ASN Conference, sponsored by USCET-Zhejiang University, China , Hangzhou, China, Dec. 2014.

Co-Facilitator, Global Leadership Student and Alumni Panel, 1st Annual Global Leadership Conference, Swinburne University and Northeastern University, , Australia, Nov. 2014.

Cordula A. Robinson, PhD "State of GEOINT what's HOT, what's NOT, and what's on the HORIZON," Hyatt Dulles, USGIF Symposium, October 7, 2014, Herndon, VA.

Marissa Lombardi, EdD Faculty member, Global Studies and The Forum on Education Abroad, "Home and host institutions: What can we learn from each other?" With co-presenter Sabina Post (Elizabethtown College), San Diego, CA, April, 2014.

The Forum on Education Abroad, "Reimagining the Familiar: Managing Student Expectations of 'Familiar' Identities & Languages. "With co-presenters Ray Casserly (CIEE), Kari Beall (Michigan State University), Ken Yanes (), Barcelona, Spain, October, 2014.

Have you presented or published recently? Please share the news with your colleagues by sending an email to [email protected] so it can appear here.

Graduate & Undergraduate Open Houses

Northeastern will welcome prospective students interested in degree programs university-wide at two upcoming open houses in March. Individuals from Enrollment Management and Marketing, as well as faculty and academic team members, will be working the upcoming graduate and undergraduate open houses:

Undergraduate Programs Open House:

Thursday, March 12 Curry Student Center, 3rd floor suites 6:00 - 7:00 P.M.

At this open house, prospective students will explore the College's 28 bachelor's degree programs, including accelerated Fast-Track programs and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs, receive information about the College's transfer credit process, and meet with academic staff and admissions representatives.

Graduate Programs Open House:

Saturday, March 14 Curry Student Center and the Behrakis Health Science Center 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 PM

At this open house, prospective students will learn more about the College's experiential and online learning options, meet with faculty, admissions counselors, and financial aid representatives, and learn more about the ALIGN program, a one-of-a-kind path to high-demand careers.

If any faculty members would like to participate in the events, please contact Phedra Hamilton-Reyna, Director of Admissions and Recruitment, at [email protected].

Faculty Member Takes Over Transportation Role at Critical Time

In almost every press conference about the weather-induced woes of the Bay Transit Authority (MBTA, or the "T,") one hears the name Stephanie Pollack mentioned, or hears from her directly, as the newly named Secretary of Transportation. Her appointment was announced on January 13, 2015, just before the start of the series of snowstorms that have left transportation systems across the Commonwealth struggling.

Pollack has been a Northeastern faculty member for more than a decade, teaching a three-course sequence in the Doctor of Law and Policy program, with a particular strength in teaching the role of the courts as policymakers.

Prior to becoming Secretary, Pollack was also Associate Director of the Kitty & Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern, overseeing the Center¹s research agenda as well as conducting her own research projects in the areas of transportation policy, transit-oriented development, and equitable development.

Recent publications include "Hub and spoke: core transit congestion and the future of transit and development in ," Dukakis Center Publications (2012) and "Maintaining diversity in America's transit-rich neighborhoods: tools for equitable neighborhood change," (with and Chase Billingham), Dukakis Center Publications (2010).

Staff Member, Student, Featured in Boston Globe

When the Boston Globe covered "hot jobs in higher ed," it turned to the College of Professional Studies for examples. Justin Horvath, an Instructional Designer here at the College, and Carolyn Harris, a student in the Master's in Education program, were featured in a January 24th article in the Boston Globe business section.

The article notes, "jobs at colleges and universities are changing along with technology, students, and higher education itself. Demand for professionals to work in online learning, fund- raising, and services for an increasingly diverse pool of students is booming."

Read more at "Academia welcomes new skills"

Reminder: Huntington 100 Nominations Due

Nominations are now being accepted for the Huntington 100, a prestigious award that recognizes Northeastern students who have excelled in their respective areas. The deadline is February 27. Deans, faculty, staff, advisors, coaches, employers, alumni and fellow students may nominate students.

Honored students must have impressive experience that is commensurate with the University's mission, ideals, values and Academic Plan. The selection committee will consider the following:

* Academic record and strength of nomination letter(s) * Impact on the campus community * Record of service, be it within the University, or another community * Global engagement, in the form of international co-op, study abroad or other experiential learning beyond the United States * Demonstrated leadership * Entrepreneurial or innovative spirit * Commitment to a high level of ideals, and ability to positively represent the values of Northeastern

And here is the nomination form.

Doctor of Education Program Aligns its Regional Programs Together

Students in the Southeast regional cohort, along with Doctor of Education faculty member Dr. Corliss Brown Thompson (pictured far left), at the end of their second quarter at a hybrid weekend on the regional campus in Charlotte, NC.

By Mya Mangawang, Associate Dean of Academic and Faculty Affairs, Director, Graduate in Education programs

This quarter our Doctor of Education program in Charlotte, NC, welcomed its third cohort (pictured above). The individuals in our regional cohort, whose work spans the fields of education (one student is Vice President of Finance, another is an Assistant Superintendent of a school district, while another is the Director of a heating and cooling business) continue to highlight the unique nature of the regional communities the program has added to the virtual doctoral program at the College. By anchoring our regional cohorts with executive weekends, which employ a hybrid model of learning, we are able to bring our faculty and students across cohorts (in Boston and Charlotte) together for weekend experiences in either city, which includes coursework, presentations and panels and social time. During the last weekend together, students had the opportunity to learn from former Representative Martha Alexander of Charlotte, NC, a current doctoral student in the program and a member of our first cohort, about the particular impact of the last election on regional issues in education, business and the nonprofit world. This conversation is but one of the many ways in which we harness the unique lens of a doctoral program as we encourage our students in conversations and collaborative work with one another to explore the particular and unique regional influences on the national agenda in education. Bringing our extraordinary faculty, some of whom are also residents of the Southeast region, to our hybrid weekends, grows our opportunities to connect students across cohorts with one another and to grow regional impact for change.

Share + Care February Session

The next Share + Care session, "Peer Pressure: Critical Community Pods in an Online Space" by Dr. Billye Sankofa Waters, will be held on Thursday, February 26th from 12-1 P.M. This meeting is virtual. To join from your computer, tablet or smartphone click here. Participants should use their microphone and speakers (VOIP) for audio - they will sound best with a headset.

Session Description: Developing community in an asynchronous learning environment certainly poses a number of difficulties: time management, response styles, personality alignment, and understanding course content. With awareness that the Discussion Board postings can be seen as another "check" for our students to complete, assigning students to smaller pods creates a greater opportunity for engagement. In this session, Dr. Sankofa Waters will discuss the successes - and occasional pitfalls - of creating such spaces in a range of courses, as well as with assigned Scholar Practitioner Community.

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Green, Program Manager, Graduate Programs in Education, at [email protected].

We Want to Hear from You!

What information would you like to receive in the next issue? We welcome all suggestions, and will do our best to incorporate your ideas into future communications. Thanks in advance for your input and support. To submit a note, send an email to [email protected].

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