Faculty/Staff Accomplishments and News Briefs 5/9/18

In this issue we celebrate faculty promotions, and the accomplishments of faculty and staff in college programs, education and English. Recent Strong Story videos and a new addition of accessibility resources are included in News Briefs.

The Meredith College Board of Trustees approved the following faculty promotions at its Spring 2018 meeting. Promoted to full Professor:  Laura Fine (English), Dan Fountain (History), Shannon Grimes (Religion), Shannon Johnstone (Art), Erin Lindquist (Biology), and Cecilia Toole (Education). The following retiring professors approved for Emeritus Status: Lyn Aubrecht, John Mecham, and Toni Parker.

Mary Kay Delaney, Professor in Education, attended the Association of American Education in April and presented a paper, served as a discussant, and facilitated a roundtable session. Delaney’s paper, “Critical Explorations in Teacher Education,” makes the case for constructivist pedagogies in teacher education. She was a discussant in a paper session called Critical Approaches to Preparing Social-Justice Oriented Teachers. She was the chair/ facilitator of a roundtable session called “Constructing Learning Opportunities through Teacher Research.” In this session, five teacher-researchers presented their classroom-based research. The presentations were followed by a group discussion of the projects including issues such as impact on practice, new perspectives on practice, student engagement, adjusting curriculum and teaching based on findings, and more.

Vice President for College Programs Jean Jackson will be serving as the commencement speaker for Vance Granville Community College.

Associate Professor of English Kelly Morris Roberts wrote an Op-Ed, “To fortify schools, build teachers,” that was published in The News and Observer on March 8, 2018.

Marge Terhaar, Professor in Education, co-presented at two sessions during the Council for Exceptional Children Conference and Expo in Tampa, Fla., in February. The sessions were Voices from the Field: Educators with Disabilities, and Exceptional Lives, Exceptional Stories.

News Briefs

Strong Story Videos
Three members of the Class of 2018 are featured in Strong Story videos. Political Science and Communication major Caitlyn Grimes, Dance and Communication major Sierra Smith, and Music major Caroline Carter are featured in this series, which can be viewed on Meredith’s YouTube channel. View the playlist 

Easy Access—Resources for Faculty and Staff

In the Accessibility Sandbox session during PIE on May 16, you will have the opportunity to work on your course materials and learn how to create accessible documents from scratch. As you anticipate the skills you will be developing, you may be interested in the handouts that will be shared during that session:

• Creating Accessible Microsoft Word 2013 Documents (Windows)
• Creating Accessible Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 Presentations (Windows)
• PDF Conversion in Microsoft Word 2007/2010 Documents
• Creating Accessible PDF Documents In Adobe Acrobat XI
• Creating Accessible PDF Documents In Adobe acrobat X

Additional free resources for creating accessible content are available from The National Center on Disability and Access to Education at ncdae.org