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Message from Dr. Howell, Clinical Assistant Professor & Ed.D. Graduate Program Director Welcome to Spring 2021! This semester may not necessarily look a lot different than Spring 2020 due to all courses being online, but it seems to feel slightly different. Last year most of us were working and learning remotely due to the declared state of emergency from Governor Roy Cooper related to the COVID-19 pandemic that was being experienced globally. One year later, there are a couple of options related to the receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. There is a feeling of hopefulness of things to come as we can consider interacting post-vaccine. We are excited for a spring in-person commencement and for increased campus presence and socialization. We are anticipating that fall courses will return to pre-pandemic delivery modalities. As a program we continue to see students meet important academic and professional benchmarks to degree matriculation along with the support and guidance of faculty. All of this is encouraging and exiting news, but we also remain troubled by the continued racism that plagues the U.S. and the implications of such practices. The spring and summer of 2020 brought forward the names of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Abrery, along with many others, the refrain “Black Lives Matter” and with the counter sentiment that “All Lives Matter” into our collective memories. This spring we continue to grabble with the issue of race and discrimination as a country and local community. On Tuesday, March 16th eight people were senselessly killed in Atlanta, GA, with the majority being of Asian descent. I think it is important that we learn their names so that they do not get lost as a hashtag or in rivaling media pundits’ talking points that may obscure the real pain experienced by their families and friends who are left to honor their memories. Hyun Jung Grant, Daoyou Feng, Suncha Kim, Paul Andre Michels, Soon Chung Park, Xiaojie Tan,

Delaina Ashley Yaun, and Yong Ae Yue

Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, was also shot but survived.

As educational leaders, we can choose to address the multiplicity of issues that ungird discrimination or suppress them and maintain the status quo. I encourage everyone to refer back to the email communication from Chancellor Gaber on March 18th related to support services that are available to assist with coping during this time. Let’s all move forward in strength and full awareness of claiming better days.

April 5 Registration for Summer & Fall opens

April 8-12 AERA Virtual Conference

April 19 Doctoral dissertation defense deadline

April 20 ASHE call for proposal deadline

April 30 Day of Remembrance – no classes

May 5 Last day of classes for the spring semester

May 14-15 Commencement

“When this ends, we’ll smile sweetly, finally seeing. In testing times, we become the best of things.” ~ Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate

Issue 16- Spring 2021

Important Dates

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The dissertation defense is the final milestone toward degree completion. The defense is a formal

meeting that is open to the public. Students are required to post an announcement of the defense at

least two weeks in advance. They provide the committee with the complete dissertation at least

three weeks in advance of the defense meeting. The meeting may begin with comments from the

chair who will outline the process of the meeting.

Spring 2021 Dissertation Defenses

Carolyn Salanger Community Specialization

Dissertation Chair: Dr. Lisa Merriweather Dissertation Committee: Dr. Sandra Dika, Dr. Ryan A. Miller, & Dr. Susan McCarter

Low-income Community College Student Perceptions of Faculty Interactions in Online Courses

Rosalba Esparragoza Higher Education

Dissertation Co-Chairs: Dr. Claudia Flowers & Dr. Cathy D. Howell

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Ayesha Sadaf, Dr. Bobby Hobgood, & Dr. Ana-Isabel Aliaga-Buchenau

Students’ Perceptions of Motivation and Use of Metacognitive Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in Remote

Asynchronous Elementary Spanish Classes

Meghan Frazier Curriculum & Supervision

Dissertation Chair: Dr. Rebecca Shore

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Sandra Dika, Dr. Walter Hart, & Dr. David Pugalee

A Multiple Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Five Upper Elementary School Teachers Who

Transitioned From Traditional Grading Practices to Standards-Based Grading Practices

C. Regina Simmons Higher Education

Dissertation Chair: Dr. Ryan Miller

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Mark D’Amico, Dr. Alan Mabe, & Dr. Hank Harris

How Intercollegiate Athletics Contributes to Viability: Small Private College Presidents’ Perspectives

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The dissertation proposal defense is the second milestone in degree completion of the Ed.D. Students are strongly

encouraged to refine a research topic of interest from the onset of the program. The proposal is comprised of chapters 1 – 3 of

the dissertations – introduction, comprehensive literature review, and methodology. This formal proposal meeting requires

submission of the written proposal at least two weeks in advance to the committee and typically a PowerPoint

presentation. Successful completion of the qualifying examination and dissertation proposal acknowledges that a student is

now a doctoral candidate.

Congratulations to the following Doctoral Candidates!

Spring 2021 Doctoral Candidates

Spring 2021 Doctoral Candidates

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The UNC Charlotte Presenters for the 2021

NCARE Virtual Conference

March 5, 2021

Paper Sessions

Title: “A Coach and Not a Dictator”: How Faculty Establish Credibility Within Required

Undergraduate Diversity Courses

Authors: Dr. Ryan A. Miller, Dr. Cathy Howell, Shawn Knight, UNC Charlotte

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Title: Practitioner Perspectives on the Implementation of the North Carolina Kindergarten Early

Assessment

Authors: Scott Holcomb, Zhi Li, and Dr. Richard Lambert, UNC Charlotte

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Title: Parents’ Perceptions about Implementing Homeschooling Curriculum

Authors: Almed Almhawes, UNC Charlotte, Jennifer Jolly, The University of Alabama, Michael

Matthews, UNC Charlotte, and Elisha Rearick, UNC Charlotte

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Title: Characteristics of Clinical Experiences That Support Preservice Teachers’ Understandings of

Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction

Authors: Leslie Schmidt, UNC Charlotte

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Title: The Invisible Labor for Emerging Women Leaders: A Critical Analysis of Literature in Higher

Education

Authors: Stephanie Norander & Leslie Zenk, UNC Charlotte

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Title: COVID-19 and Culturally Responsive Online Teaching and Learning: A Preliminary Exploration

of Emergent Practices

Authors: Erin Lewis, Annette Teasdell, UNC Charlotte

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Title: Impact of Research Ethics Training in Graduate Programs on the Perceptions of Ethical Research

in Professional Identity Development

Authors: Curtis Kularski, UNC Charlotte

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NCARE Virtual Conference 2021

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K-12 & Higher Education 3MT Presentations

Title: Protect Black Women [Teachers]: An Autoethnography Exploring the Turnover of a

Passionate Black Woman Teacher

Author: Shanique Lee, UNC Charlotte (Winner of Student Award)

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Title: A Systematic Review of Online Privacy in Higher Education

Author: Curtis Kularski, UNC Charlotte

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Title: ADA Compliance in Higher Education: Online Language Courses for Visually Impaired

Students

Author: Liane She Honeycutt, Stanly Community College

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Title: Did Digital Divide Exacerbate Inequality in Education During COVID-19? Teachers’

Perspective Teaching Online

Authors: Tuba Gezer, Elife Ceviker, UNC Charlotte

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Symposiums

Title: Inter-Rater Reliability of Evaluators Using the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process

Authors: Dr. Richard Lambert, Bryndle Bottoms, and Scott Holcomb, UNC Charlotte

Moderators: Amanda Vestal and Kawanna Jackson

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NCARE Virtual Conference 2021 (cont.)

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NCARE Virtual Conference 2021

Congratulations Dr. Monica Moore Allen

NCARE President Elect 2021-2022 UNCC Charlotte Education Leadership Alumni (EdD), 2012

Mr. David Lynn NCARE At-Large Member

UNCC Charlotte ERME, Ph.D. student

Ms. Shanique Lee

Student Award Recipient

K-12 & Higher Education 3MT Presentations

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Meet the 2020-2021 Ed Leadership Graduate Assistants Supervised by Dr. Sandra Dika and Dr. Cathy Howell

Top Row: Dr. Sandra Dika, Dr. Cathy Howell, Julia Hujar (ERME), Scott Holcomb (ERME) Middle Row: Hannah Luce (ERME), Yi Wang (ERME), Elenora Haag (Higher Education), Tynsley Gilchrist

Bottom Row: Kristin Villanueva (ERME), Tuba Gezer (ERME)

Congratulations!

Ed Leadership Graduate Assistants

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Login to the Niner Scholars portal for funding opportunities.

Plan to complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The Department of Educational Leadership and the Graduate School have provided a wide

variety of resources to assist graduate students with financing their education. Check the

sites frequently for updated information and apply early to avoid missing deadlines.

Complete the FAFSA at fafsa.gov. Our school code is 002975.

Enrollment Hours

As of Fall 2017, graduate students must take at least 4.5 credit hours to be considered

enrolled half-time. This has increased from the previous half-time definition of 3 credit

hours.

Note: The definition of full-time graduate enrollment has not changed. To be considered

full-time, graduate students must enroll in at least 9 credit hours.

For more information, please review information from the Office of the Provost or the Office

of Financial Aid.

AE

Funding and Conferences

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Course # Course Name Instructor Day Course # Course Name Instructor Day

ADMN 6100 Fund of Educ

Leadership

Allen M RSCH 4101 Research Methods Newton

ADMN 6100 Fund of Educ

Leadership

Miller W RSCH 6101 Research Methods Lim

ADMN 6101 Perspectives on

Adult Learning

Theory

Howell RSCH 6101 Research Methods Newton

ADMN 6105 Legal Aspects of

Schooling

Kudlats M RSCH 6101 Research Methods Cox

ADMN 6120 Instructional

Leadership

Shore R RSCH 6101 Research Methods Hancock W

ADMN 6130-080 Supervision of

Instruction

Greene M RSCH 6109 Assessment & Eval

Methods

Westine W

ADMN 6130-084 Supervision of

Instruction

Shore M RSCH

6110/8110

Descriptive &

Inferential Stat

Lambert R

ADMN 6130-085 Supervision of

Instruction

Greene M RSCH

6110/8110

Descriptive &

Inferential Stat

Kim

ADMN 6130-087 Supervision of

Instruction

Greene M RSCH

6120/8120

Advanced Statistics Cox W

ADMN 6130-088 Supervision of

Instruction

Le Serna T RSCH

7140/8140

Multivariate

Statistics

Flowers M

ADMN 6161 The Principalship Carroll T RSCH

7196/8196

Program Evaluation

Methods

Westine T

ADMN 6170/8170 Introduction to

the Community

College

D’Amico M RSCH 8111 Qualitative Research

Methods

Merriweath

er

M

ADMN 6171/8171 The American

College Student

Howell RSCH 8121 Qual Data Collect &

Analysis

Lim W

ADMN 6174/8174 Higher Ed

Finance and

Budget

Mabe R RSCH 8120 Applied Research

Methods

Dika T

ADMN 6180/8180 Teach Strat for

Adults in Div

Merriweather T RSCH 8230 Classical & Modern

Test Theory

Kim R

ADMN 8110 Org Theory &

Behavior

Hart W RSCH 8699 Dissertation

Proposal Design

Dika

ADMN 8110 Org Theory &

Behavior

D’Amico W RSCH 8890 Special Topics in

Research

La Serna W

ADMN 8140 School Finance Watson W RSCH 8890 Special Topics in

Research

Miller R

ADMN 8695 Adv Seminar in

Teach & Learn

Martin

Fall 2021 Course Offerings

Refer to Banner for the updated and detailed course schedule. This is an abbreviated version of course offerings. All courses are not listed below. The Banner schedule will provide information related to delivery method for courses (online, hybrid or face to face).

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Course # Course Name Instructor Day Course # Course Name Instructor Day

EIST 4100 Computer

Applications in

Educ

Schmid EIST 6135 Learning Media, Res

& Tech

Oyarzun

EIST 5100 Tech Integration

in Education

McNeill EIST

6150/8150

Design, Dev and

Eval of Online

Learning Systems

Oyarzun

EIST 6100/8100 Foundations of

Learning,

Design & Tech

Gilbaud EIST

6160/8160

Designing Learning

Sys with Sim and

Game Tech

Ertzberger

EIST 6101 Learning

Principles in

LDT

Sadaf EIST

6170/8170

Human Performance

Technology

Kirkey

EIST 6110/8110 Instructional

Design

Sadaf EIST 6492 Capstone Project in

LDT

Oyarzun

EIST 6130/8130 Instr

Multimedia

Development

Martin EIST

6800/8800

Individual Study in

LDT

Oyarzun

Fall 2021 Course Offerings (cont.)

Schedule a time to meet with your advisor prior to registration.

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This closed group is for students, alumni, faculty, and staff of the Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte. Group membership must be approved by the group administrator. The purposes are to communicate, connect, and celebrate your successes! This may include completing coursework, qualifying examinations, dissertation proposal, and sharing academic or professional tips. Click the Facebook icon to join.

Newsletter Contributions

The newsletter is a semester

communication created and developed

during the fall 2020 semester by doctoral

graduate assistants Elenora Haag and

Kristin Villanueva. Each issue features

information that is relative to student and

faculty experience. The newsletter is

distributed by the Graduate Program

Director to all current doctoral students,

faculty, and staff.

Connect