Educator, Department Chair, Higher Education Administrator
Career Overview and Curriculum Development
I have over fifteen years of full-time experience in higher education, including teaching post-secondary Art & Design courses.
As a Director of Education and former Department Chair, I have over five years of full-time administrative and supervisory experience including hiring, mentoring, and evaluating faculty and staff.
A Master of Fine Arts degree in visual arts as well as significant graduate degree course completion in clinical psychology inform my responsibilities as a higher education leader.
After teaching part-time as an adjunct for seven years, I began a full-time teaching career in 2006.
I started by teaching and developing curriculum in a technically-oriented graphics program; I was selected to develop and expand curricular offerings and make them more appealing to creative students.
Since my career began as a graphic designer and later as an art director and creative director, I brought an in-depth understanding of the commercial advertising design world. The goals have been to integrate some of that “real world” knowledge into existing programs.
I’ve always enthusiastically embraced responsibilities and developed needed courses to existing programs, thereby increasing the appeal of (and enrollments in) degrees being offered.
In addition to adding design-oriented courses, I have also been developed and integrated digital photography courses into curricula.
I have developed cross-listed courses based in technology, but with a greater emphasis on design for programs that were more technically-oriented.
I have drafted bachelor’s degree proposals for Art and Design programs, creating courses which could eventually become part of NASAD-accreditable art programs, based on advisement from NASAD Program Reviewers.
Accreditation
As a Department Chair and as a tenured faculty member, I have had considerable experience with accreditation processes and requirements in the post-secondary environment.
In addition to NASAD, I’m familiar with and have worked on accreditation for programs and curricula using ACCSC, SACS, and NWCCU standards and procedures.
I have built art and design programs from nothing, and I've been responsible for revising programs in order to meet desired accreditation standards.
I have developed curricula for commercial photography, multimedia design, graphic design, fine arts, and liberal arts programs.
I’ve worked with colleagues on development, evaluation, and expansion of programs and degrees that meet workforce and industry needs, as well as those which lead to seamless transfer.
I hope to have a continued role in curriculum development as part of my professional responsibilities.
Program Assessment
As an administrator and a faculty member, I have had experience in assessing student learning outcomes and data-informed program review—then developing or revising program curricula when those findings determine beneficial reasons to reassess program content.
Adaptability, Student Mentoring, Recruiting, and Diversity
Like so many others in education, I have been forced in the last few years to embrace and adopt best practices regarding online teaching, distance learning, and how best to accommodate students and faculty in the consumption and delivery of online courses. Using Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard among other learning management systems (LMS), I have expanded my knowledge of various tools and platforms for optimal results. Of course, I’ve become very familiar with features and nuances of Zoom as a means of conducting classes.
During the time in which I have been teaching, I've continued to broaden my knowledge of digital advertising methods and theories, which has been invaluable in the classroom.
I've shepherded quite a few students to win regional and national Addy Awards from the American Advertising Federation, as well as enviable internships and job placements in competitive markets.
One of the things I enjoy professionally is working with recruiters and admissions staff to broaden and improve recruiting. One of the best methods I’ve found to boost program enrollment is for university faculty to engage high school students directly in high school classrooms. I have been doing this at regional high schools for more than a decade with very good results.
I understand that students—those at both public and private institutions—have significant variation in their levels of need. Students come with a range of academic, physical, and psychological situations, and can have widely varied cultural and socioeconomic differences and concerns. I understand the need to accommodate and I have worked with a broad and diverse range of students. One of the most important learning opportunities for students in a higher education setting is the experience of working collaboratively with diverse, multicultural, and international groups of students.
International Teaching
I have had life-changing and career enhancing international teaching experiences in Switzerland, France, and Italy. I have co-taught typography with Gerhardt Florian Müller at the Basel Academy of Art and Design. I have worked directly with Olivier Michaud from Le Centre Pompidou in Paris in developing a museum studies course for American students. I have also taught English at Instituto Americano to native Italian speakers and drawing to English-speaking students in Florence, Italy. I would like to use connections developed from these experiences to extend international study opportunities to my future students as well.
Service and Community
I have served multi-year elected terms on public art organizations’ boards, including the St. George (UT) Arts Commission, among others.
I believe in the value and realize the importance integrating students into campus culture.
I also understand the need to inform the public about the many positive, productive things students and art programs bring to a local community and economy.
Collegiality
As an administrator or department chair, I believe there is no goal more important than creating a positive, constructive, collegial workplace environment.
I make every effort to ensure that all of my colleagues and students have a positive work and learning environment in order to support an organization’s mission, goals, and strategies.
Having a background in psychology has proven beneficial in this regard.
I believe that many of my former colleagues would attest to my competence, sociability, and professionalism, and would welcome me back into their university family.
Currently
I am currently living in Vancouver, Washington—where I teach graphic design and art history courses.
I am also working on managing and exhibiting a growing body of photographic work, containing many innovations with which I am particularly satisfied.
Here are some useful links to a couple of reviews of my recent work from a 2020 exhibition in Chicago: