Faculty

Darren Cambridge, (PhD, University of Texas/Austin), Assistant Professor, New Century College, CHSS.  His scholarly interests include portfolios, learning technology, lifelong learning, reflection and integrative learning. He is editor of Electronic Portfolios 2.0: Emergent Research on Implementation and Impact (Stylus, 2009) and his book on eportfolios and lifelong learning will be published by Jossey Bass in 2010.  Please see Darren's homepage at http://ncepr.org/darren/ for additional information.

Larry Czarda, (PhD, George Mason University), is Vice President for Regional Campuses at Mason and teaches higher education finance and organization and management.  His research interests include educational public policy, institutional organization and metropolitan governance.

Karen Gentemann, (PhD, University of Pittsburgh), is Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness.  Her research interests are in assessment in higher education as well as in survey research,  higher education opportunity for minority students, women in higher education, and community organizing.

Toby Jenkins earned a PhD in Educational Theory & Policy/Social Foundations of Education from Penn State University. She also has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Relations from the Honors College at the University of South Carolina and a Masters in College Student Personnel Services from the University of Maryland, College Park.  Her research and professional interests focus on how culture is used as a politic of social survival among communities of color; the utility of non-traditional knowledge production; and the cultural arts as a tool of social resistance. Most recently, Jenkins served as Director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center at Penn State University. At Penn State, she spent five years implementing a bold strategic vision for the cultural center which included the creation of a programming framework to guide the creation and delivery of programs and services, significant fundraising efforts resulting in $50,000 of raised funds each year, the creation of new staff positions, intentional student outreach efforts, facility enhancements, and critical administrative policy changes. Prior to Penn State, Jenkins spent six years at the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) where she worked within Academic Affairs as Assistant Director of the Nyumburu Cultural Center and as a Program Manager within the College of Education conducting research assessment and creating outreach programs in the Institute for Urban and Minority Education. At UMCP, Dr. Jenkins also worked in Fraternity & Sorority Life as a House Director and in Student Activities as a Program Board Advisor. Her past professional experience as a student affairs staff member with Semester at Sea as well as her individual research projects and studies have taken her to Greece, Spain, Norway, Italy, Morocco, Egypt, Russia, Belgium, Turkey, South Africa, Senegal, England, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Trinidad. Additionally, she worked with students from over 40 countries as the resident life director for the Johns Hopkins University Office of Summer Programs. Prior to joining the higher education field, Jenkins worked for Momentum, IMC as an event marketing account executive and Oscar Mayer foods as a media spokesperson.

Mark A. Kidd, (PhD, University of Mississippi), is Associate Dean for University Life, GMU.  Research Interests: College Student Development, Student Success, Student Services.

T. Mills Kelly, (PhD, George Washington University), Associate Director of the Center for History and New Media; Associate Professor of History and Art History, Carniegie Scholar.  Research Interests: Eastern Europe, Digital History.

Gail Kettlewell, (DEd., Virginia Tech), Principal International Center for Arts, Culture and Education, College of Visual and Performing Arts.  Research Interests: Issues in Community College Leadership and Academics, International Community College Development and Assessment.

Anne Kuhta, (D.A., George Mason University), Professor, Northern Virginia Community College, Manassas Campus.  Areas of interest include andragogy, community college teaching, and "50-plus" students.

Jaime Lester, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, George Mason University. Lester holds a Ph.D. and M.Ed. in higher education from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. Lester also holds a dual B.A. from the University of Michigan in English and Women’s studies. Prior to George Mason University, she was an assistant professor and Co-Director of the Research Center for Community College Inquiry in the Department of Leadership and Counseling at Old Dominion University from 2006-2008. Dr. Lester maintains an active research agenda that examines gender equity in higher education; retention and transfer of community college students; socialization of women and minority faculty; and leadership. She has published articles in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Community College Review, Journal of Higher Education, Liberal Education, National Women’s Studies Association Journal, Review of Higher Education, and NEA: Thought & Action. She serves on the editorial board of Community College Review. Dr. Lester has three books ongendered perspectives in community colleges, family-friendly policies in higher education, and ways to restructure higher education to promote collaboration. Currently, she is completing a book on grassroots leadership and change in higher education.

Nance Lucas,  (PhD, University of Maryland), Affiliate Faculty, is the Associate Dean and Associate Professor of New Century College at George Mason University.   Her teaching and scholarship interests focus on ethics and leadership.  Nance is the co-author of Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want To Make A Difference (1st and 2nd editions) and contributing author of Leadership Reconsidered and The Social Change Model ofLeadership Development.  She co-founded the National Leadership Symposium and the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs.

Janette Muir, (PhD, University of Massachusetts), Associate Professor New Century College, Interdisciplinary and Integrative Studies; Associate Professor of Communication.  Research Interests: Interdisciplinary and Integrative Studies.  Janette served as Associate Dean of NewCentury College, 2000-2005.  She is the editor of Political Communication.

Star Muir, is an Associate Professor of Communication in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences; research interests include Technostress, Information Overload, Instructional
Technology, and Environmental Communication.

John O’Connor, (PhD, University of Virginia), is Director of the Higher Education Program and Professor in GMU’s New Century College.  Research Interests include Learning Communities, integrative learning, community-based learning and civic engagement.  John is former Vice Provost for University Computing and Information Services and founding Dean of New Century College.

Julie Owen,   (PhD, University of Maryland), is an Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies at New Century College, George Mason University, where she teaches courses on leadership theory, social change, and civic action. Owen has fifteen years of professional experience in the field of leadership development and is a frequent consultant and speaker on topics related to leadership, service-learning, and organizational change. She is the author of two monographs for the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs and is co-editor of the Handbook for Leadership Educators. She is active on several research teams, including the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL), an annual study of student leadership at over 100 colleges and universities, and the Leadership Identity Development project (LID). Owen is an eight-time associate with the National Leadership Symposium and received the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award in 2005. She has assumed leadership roles in numerous professional associations including the International Leadership Association (ILA), ACPA, NASPA, and the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS).
 
Owen received her B.A. degree (1993) in psychology and English from the College of William and Mary, and her M. Ed. (1996) in College Student Personnel Administration from James Madison University. She holds a certificate of non-profit administration from Duke University (2000) and received her PhD (2008) in College Personnel Administration at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a concentration in leadership development.

Sondra Patrick, (PhD, George Mason University), Director of Enrollment Development for Regional Campuses.  Associate Professor of Higher Education.  Research Interests: Research Methodology (Qualitative and Mixed Methods), Academic Affairs, Organizational Theory and Change, Administrative Decision Making and Leadership.

L. Earle Reybold (PhD, University of Georgia), Associate Professor, College of Education and Human Development. I teach qualitative research methods, ethics in higher education, and theories of adult learning and development. My research interests include faculty roles and responsibilities, professional ethics and epistemology, interdisciplinarity, and qualitative research applications. I have published data-based articles in the Journal of College Student Development, Innovative Higher Education, Journal of the Professoriate, Journal of Career Development, Journal of Adult Development, International Journal of Lifelong Education, and other journals. Before I began my Ph.D. in adult education, I served as a research associate at the James M. Cox Center for International Mass Communications Training and Research (UGA). While there, I co-edited two books, including Revolutions for Freedom: The Mass Media in Eastern and Central Europe and The Post-Communist Press in Eastern and Central Europe: New Studies. Also, I developed and taught workshops for international journalists who were developing free press systems in their countries. My other international research projects include thesis and dissertation projects conducted in Malaysia. I have organized multiple qualitative evaluations of statewide and institutional programs with the Georgia Department of Education and the Occupational Research Group at The University of Georgia, and I continue a strong collaborative relationship with community and government partners. My research agenda continues to study faculty preparation and development across the career, particularly in relation to socialization, mentoring, and professional conflict; and my research continues to develop a vision for ethical communities of practice in higher education. I welcome questions and comments about any of these issues.

Victoria N. Salmon, (D.A., George Mason University), Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies, College of Visual and Performing Arts. Research Interests: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Writing Across the Curriculum, Graduate Level Research and Writing

Barbara Saperstone, (D.A., George Mason University), Provost, Annandale, Northern Virginia Community College.

Kelly Schrum, (PhD, Johns Hopkins University) Director of Education Projects, Center for History and New Media; Co-director of National History Education Clearinghouse; Associate Professor of Higher Education.  Kelly is the author of Some Wore Bobby Sox: The Emergence of Teenage Girls' Culture, 1920-1950.Other publications include U.S. History Matters: A Student Guide to History Online and World History Matters: A Student Guide to History 
Online. Schrum has worked extensively in the areas of 20th-century American culture, new media, and professional development.

Linda Schwartzstein, (JD, University of Michigan; PhD, George Mason University), Adjunct Faculty, is a Professor of Law and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.

Lesley Smith, (PhD), University of Oxford) Associate Professor, New Century College; Editor, inventio, a national electronic journal of creative thinking about the scholarship of learning and teaching.  Research interests: students' historical, emotional, and psychological access to technology-enriched learning.

R. Claire Snyder-Hall, (PhD, Rutgers University), is Director of Academics for the Higher Education Program; Director of the Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program; Campus Coordinator for the Democracy Project; and Associate Professor of Government and Politics in Political Theory.  Her research interests include the history of higher education, democratic theory, feminist theory, and religion & politics.

Dennis Webster, (PhD, University of Maryland), Associate Dean, University Life.