FALL 2020 COMMENCEMENT Congratulations, graduates! OCTOBER 11, 2020 Virtual Commencement THE HISTORY OF ASHFORD UNIVERSITY FOUNDING The history of Ashford University begins in 1891, when Father John Murray invited the Sisters of St. Francis to help him teach students in Clinton, Iowa. By 1893, the Sisters were able to purchase some land in Clinton, on which they established their mother house and the Mount St. Clare Academy, a prep school for girls. The Academy and mother house quickly outgrew their old building. In 1910, the mother house and the academy moved into the newly constructed Mount St. Clare building. Seeing a need for teachers in Clinton County and the surrounding area, the Sisters founded Mount St. Clare College, the predecessor to Ashford University, in 1918. At that time, the Mount St. Clare Academy, College, and Convent were all housed in the same building. EXPANSION BECOMING A UNIVERSITY In 1950, the North Central In 2002, Mount St. Clare College Association of Colleges and began to offer a Master’s Schools first accredited Mount program over the internet. In St. Clare College. Following conjunction with the expanded the accreditation, the school course offerings, the school quickly began to expand. The changed its name to The sisters moved into an adjoining Franciscan University, and the convent building in 1956. A new name of the athletic teams were library and gym were opened a changed from “The Mounties” to few years later. During the ‘60s, “The Saints.” In September 2004, the Science Hall was opened. the school modified its name And in 1967, the college became to The Franciscan University of coeducational. the Prairies, in order to avoid confusion with similarly named For the 1979-1980 school year, schools. PRESIDENTS the college received approval Mother Mary Paul Carrico, OSF, 1918-1921 for its first four-year degree, a In March 2005, the University Mother Mary Fidelis Ruddy, OSF, 1921-1924 Bachelor’s program in was purchased by Bridgepoint Mother Mary Paul Carrico, OSF, 1924-1936 business administration. The Education, Inc. After the Mother Mary John McKeever, OSF, 1936-1948 following year, the Mount St. completion of the sale, the Mother Mary Regis Cleary, OSF, 1948-1958 Clare Academy merged with St. institution’s name was changed Sister Mary Cortona Phelan, PhD, OSF, 1958-1968 Mary’s High School in Clinton, to Ashford University. The school Sister Mary Cecile Devereux, OSF, 1968-1971 forming Mater Dei High School also dropped its affiliation with Sister Eileen Smith, OSF, 1972-1976 (now known as Prince of Peace the Roman Catholic Church and Dr. Dan C. Johnson, 1976-1985 Academy). With the space freed became a for-profit institution. Rev. Charles E. Lang, PhD, 1986-1991 by the academy’s merger, the Dr. James J. Ross, 1991-2000 school began to offer additional Sheila Smith, 2001-2002 four year programs. Dr. Michael E. Kaelke, 2002-2005 James Chitwood, MBA, 2005-2007 In 1997, the sisters moved off Dr. Jane McAuliffe, 2007-2011 campus into their new mother Dr. Elizabeth Tice, 2011-2012 house, The Canticle. In 1998, the Dr. Richard Pattenaude, 2012-2016 Durgin Educational Center was Dr. Craig Swenson, 2016-present opened, which included new athletic facilities, including Kehl Arena. 6 COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER Rich Karlgaard Editor-At-Large, Futurist, Columnist Forbes & Forbes Asia Rich Karlgaard, a 28-year veteran at Forbes, is the former publisher and now the editor-at-large, futurist and writer of the “Tech Connector” column for Forbes Asia. He is a regular commentator on cable business channels, and a speaker and panel moderator at business and financial events around the world. Karlgaard’s 2014 book on innovation culture, The Soft Edge, examined successful corporate cultures. It featured a foreword by Tom Peters and an afterword by the late Harvard Business School professor, Clayton Christensen. Karlgaard’s 2015 book, Team Genius, was praised by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. His 2019 book, Late Bloomers, was favorably reviewed by National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, Harvard Business Review, and the Wall Street Journal. The Financial Times chose Late Bloomers as one of its must-read 2020 books. The Wall Street Journal selected Late Bloomers for its C-Suite book club. Karlgaard has co-founded three companies and has been a board member and board advisor for several others. He holds a B.A. in political science from Stanford University. He and his family live in Silicon Valley. He is a past winner of the Northern California E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award for his role in founding the Churchill Club, a Silicon Valley business network that operated from 1985 to 2020. GRADUATING CLASS OF 2020 School Principals’ Communications Styles Christian Tekwe, Ph.D. for Online Adjuncts to Effectively Engage on Experienced Teachers’ Job Satisfaction Dissertation/Project Title: Exploring Students Chair: Dr. Kristi Branson the Influence of Grit on Small Business Chair: Dr. Patrick Smith COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Survival Among Sub-Saharan African CANDIDATES FOR DOCTORATE IN PHILOSOPHY DEGREES - EDUCATION Brant Douglas Pearson, Ph.D. Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the United Maurice A. White, Ph.D. Dissertation/Project Title: Risks and States Dissertation/Project Title: Organizational Paradigm Shifts Associated with an Chair: Dr. Peggy Sundstrom Culture and the Representation of Matthew DeBacco, Ph.D. Travin Maurice Hill, Ph.D. Sherrie Timoll-Mueller, Ph.D. Employee’s Right to Self-Identify on Social Black Women in Senior Level Federal Dissertation/Project Title: Teachers’ and Dissertation/Project Title: Educating Young Dissertation/Project Title: Faculty Media: A Delphi Study Tina Lee Twilleger, Ph.D. Government Positions: A Case Study Administrators’ Perspectives on the Fatherless African American Adult Males and Student Perceptions of Quality Chair: Dr. Melanie Shaw Dissertation/Project Title: Choreographed Chair: Dr. Kristi Branson Flipped Classroom: A Qualitative Study in in Atlanta Interaction in Online Classes: A Qualitative and Non-Choreographed Exercise Effects a High School Setting Chair: Dr. Madeline Altabe Comparative Case Study Clifton Tod Pingrey, Ph.D. on BMI, Body Fat, VO2max and Body Amanda L. Yennie, Ph.D. Chair: Dr. Candace Mazze Chair: Dr. William Yaw Adufutse Dissertation/Project Title: Creating a Space Image Dissertation/Project Title: A Quantitative Fatima N. Kwekwe, Ph.D. Branch: Defending the New Battlefield in Chair: Dr. Madeline Altabe Quasi-Experimental Study on the Effects Jennifer Elaine Hill, Ph.D. Dissertation/Project Title: Instructional Space of a Professional Learning Community on Dissertation/Project Title: Learning Strategies for Improving the Reading Chair: Dr. George Thomson Jamie Bolander Weitl, Ph.D. Student Performance Outcomes Management System Advanced Achievement Gap of Middle School Dissertation/Project Title: Best Practices Chair: Dr. Keri Heitner Functionality: Challenges and Best Immigrant Children with English as a Practices- A Delphi Study Second Language: A Qualitative Multiple Chair: Dr. Rachelle Disbennett Lee Case Study COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Chair: Dr. Kimberly Fonteix CANDIDATES FOR DOCTORATE IN PSYCHOLOGY DEGREES COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES CANDIDATES FOR DOCTORATE IN PHILOSOPHY DEGREES - HUMAN SERVICES Maria Omorere-Adetula, PsyD. Reducing Use of Force in Jails Gwendolyn N. Facison, PsyD. Dissertation/Project Title: The Isoko Chair: Dr. Thomas McLaughlin Dissertation/Project Title: A Health Literacy People’s Perceptions of the Niger Delta Program: A Quantitative Study As A Lolita Carol Berrian, Ph.D. Genene LaVette Duran, Ph.D. Amnesty Program in Nigeria: A Qualitative Margaret Dawn Billings, PsyD. Self-Management Tool For A Preventative Dissertation/Project Title: The Perceptions Dissertation/Project Title: Transit-Oriented Study Dissertation/Project Title: Former Florida Intervention of African American Women About Development and Gentrification: A Case Chair: Dr. Michael Jazzar State Probation Officers Who Have Chair: Dr. Michael Jazzar the Lack of an Involved Father During Study Examining the Cultural Effects on Supervised Adult Sex Offenders Regarding Childhood and the Influence this had on a Historically Black Neighborhood in Dennis M. Alvarez Jr., PsyD. How Empathy is Displayed by the Sex Elias-Bright K. Fleku, PsyD. College and Career Choices Denver, Colorado Dissertation/Project Title: The Offenders Dissertation/Project Title: Perception of Chair: Dr. Susanne Beier Chair: Dr. Peggy Sundstrom Psychological Impact of Piracy: Incidence Chair: Dr. Michael Jazzar Mental Health Care in Ghana: A Qualitative of Physical Symptoms Suggestive of Post- Descriptive Study Ann Elesia Carlock, Ph.D. Valerie Shannette Smith, Ph.D. Traumatic Stress Disorder in Seafarers Teressa V. Bowman, PsyD. Chair: Dr. Kelley Chappell Dissertation/Project Title: The Lived Dissertation/Project Title: Exploring Chair: Dr. Melanie Shaw Dissertation/Project Title: Assessing Experiences of Older Adults Attending the Potential of Digital Technology to Suicidal Youth Engaged in Social Media: A Craig A. Hanthorn, PsyD. Senior Centers and the Relationship to Reduce Recidivism: A Delphi Study on the Kristine D. Andersen, PsyD. Handbook for Clinicians Dissertation/Project Title: A Case Study: Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms Digitalization of Prison Education Dissertation/Project Title: Perceived User Chair: Dr. Irene Stein Coaches Perceptions, Understanding, and Chair: Dr. Susanne Beier Chair: Dr. Dana Shelton Experience Associated With M-Learning: Values of Learning Styles An Exploratory