The Story of my Service

I have been a consistent and energetic participant in service that serves students, ISAT, JMU, my profession, and my community. Wherever possible, I have sought to use my particular strengths and talents in my service, i.e.

  • my deep understanding of technology, and
  • my understanding of learning, motivation, assessment, and pedagogy.

I believe I have pursued opportunities to use my expertise effectively within the ISAT Department, at the University level, and increasingly in national and international contexts. I will summarize my activities and accomplishments here.

My knowledge of technology has been of use in the following types of service:

  • Helping JMU and ISAT make technology adoption decisions. I have been a contributing member to the committees that:
    • Selected Canvas as the replacement for Blackboard
    • Selected Blue Response as the university-wide online course-evaluation delivery system
    • Asked to serve on the committee to select the replacement for Qualtrics (starting 2018-19 academic year)
  • I also have been a catalyst to get JMU to acquire access to more advanced computing infrastructure such as:
    • The programmable Qualtrics API, which I have used in software development both in my teaching and for funded research
    • Joining the Apple Developer program so that our students can build and test mobile applications for the iOS platform. This would otherwise cost each student $99/year.
    • Moving our courses steadily toward using free, open-source software instead of expensive, proprietary systems

I sit on the CISE IT Advisory Committee, and have been the liaison between the IKM Academic Team and TSEC/LabOps/CISE-IT. I was asked to lead a team of HHS students to a hack-a-thon in Richmond, VA, which the students won ($5000 first round, $10,000 second round). I have judged the Bluestone Hacks competition in the JMU XLabs, and I was sought after for advising the Fueled Project on how web and IoT technology could be made a part of their platform.

My knowledge of course evaluation, pedagogy, and motivation has become of value in the following types of service:

  • Chairing the JMU Faculty Senate's Academic Policies Committee (2013-2018)
  • Considering new options for the JMU Academic Calendar
  • Gathering, analyzing and summarizing the entire JMU faculty opinions on issues such as:
    • Observance of Labor Day
    • Instituting a formal "Reading Day" prior to or during Fall and Spring exams
    • Creating a winter-term
  • I have also sat on University-wide committees and task forces to:
    • Examine JMU's concept and culture of academic rigor
    • Guide the administration on the best way to roll-out and implement online course evaluations

At the department level, I have served on the Assessment Committee for ten years, and now chair it. I have contributed to

  • our ABET process,
  • the development of the PCHOM Spine Rubric,
  • the Foundations Review and Redesign Committees,
  • the Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) Task Force, and
  • the Computing Sector Reboot Task Force, Chairing the Concentration Subcommittee

In addition to the use of my intellectual and professional gifts, I am a regular financial contributor to scholarships in the ISAT Department--the Maury Wolla Scholarship, and the Richard Roberds Scholarship--to which I make an automatic contribution every pay period.

In addition to my discipline-specific service, I am a frequent and regular participant and contributor to faculty meetings and summits, and I have generally been willing to serve in most any capacity that I was asked. I believe I have a reputation for being a contributor of thoughtful ideas, particularly when thinking about long-term implications and impacts. I consider myself an aggressive advocate for students. I am known for being a good note-taker.

My service contribution has been considered excellent in the majority of my annual reviews, and more recently, I believe the length of my tenure chairing university-level committees like APC merits an evaluation of excellent when applied to the full scope of my service.

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