LORNA WHEELER LORNA RAVEN WHEELER, PHD lorna.wheeler@ashford.edu EDUCATION PhD English Literature, University of Colorado, August 2006 M.A. English Literature, University of Colorado, August 2001 B.A. English Literature, University of Colorado, May 1999, magna cum laude PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE July, 2014 present Program Chair, English, Ashford University Oversaw department of 170 distance faculty including 18 full- time faculty members (that number has dropped since CoLA and DoGE are two separate entities) Fostered collaboration and community- building efforts for our 500- plus English majors Crafted two minors in English (one focused on Writing and the other, Literature). They should be approved by June 1 and go live by the end of the year (2015) Responsible for all aspects of maintaining a vibrant and rigorous program Managed continual progress on five- year action plan Managed and contributed to curriculum development Foster community between English majors, including directing the launch of the first faculty/student collaborative program newsletter Created the Jobs in English portal now housed in all English classes 2012 June, 2014 Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Ashford University Led changes supporting the effort to earn accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Supported the director and her team in the launch of new online Ashford Writing Center Spearheaded major program reviews in English and History Contributed to and managed curriculum development Supervised more than 300 faculty, including hiring, training, peer reviews, mentoring, remediation, and professional development Oversaw Communication Arts and Social Sciences Divisions simultaneously (for most of my tenure as Associate Dean Supported Dean in all aspects of College budget Led university- wide committees, including Student Publications, Faculty Engagement, and Retention Committee.
2008 2011 Program Chair, English, South University Online Oversaw department of 150 distance faculty including 17 full- time faculty members and scheduled 32 academic terms annually Created a faculty management system, involving course checks and cross- checking for quality assurance Supervised full- time faculty members in curriculum development, mentoring activities and professional development trainings Hosted weekly WebEx trainings for FT faculty in English, with monthly professional development opportunities for adjuncts Redesigned English classes, each with over 500 sections annually Co- created and managed (with current Ashford colleague Dr. Stef Lassitter) an online writing center (with discussion boards (for APA questions) and paper review service 2008 2010 Online Writing Center Tutor and Adjunct Instructor of English, Kaplan University Served as an Writing Tutor for extremely successful paper review service (typically receiving between 80 and 120 student submissions per day) Created handouts with hyperlinks with to important Writing Center learning resources and trained instructors how to use them Taught courses in Writing and Critical Thinking Worked with the then Assistant Dean (now Vice Provost) Kara Van Dam on a project that explored markers of identity in the online classroom. The paper was presented, published and served as a webinar series on diversity training 2007 2008 Assistant Professor of English, Metropolitan State University of Denver Provided academic advising for the English department, assisting students with all aspects of academic and career needs including directing master s theses. On Diversity Committee, trained students in grant- writing and reviewed student and faculty grant applications for initiatives Designed and taught interdisciplinary classes in English, African American Studies, Composition and Rhetoric and Women s Studies 2006 2007 Assistant Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University Provided academic advising for the English department, assisting students with all aspects of academic and career needs Designed and taught interdisciplinary classes in English, African American Studies, and Women s Studies Supported and mentored doctoral students in English through each stage of the dissertation
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (cont.) 2004 2006 Research Lead and Writing Tutor, Program for Writing and Rhetoric, University of Colorado Boulder Managed the research lab in the library (housed with the writing center) Designed and taught curriculum for online research and information literacy training, taken by all first- year writing students. See link below: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/pwr/index.htm Served on the Executive Committee as the graduate student representative 2001 2006 Graduate Instructor of English, University of Colorado Boulder Taught the following courses: First year Composition, Third year Composition, Women Writers, Queer Rhetoric, The Harlem Renaissance, African American Literature, Literary Theory PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS (AB RIDGED) Wikis and Whatnot: Building Community in the Online Classroom. Wheeler, L, Tinianow, D. & Battistelli, P. COLTT (Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology) Conference, University of Colorado. Boulder, CO. (August, 2014). To Croon Weird, Sweet Melodies : Mae V Cowdery and the Harlem Renaissance, Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Conference (October, 2014). Engaging Adjunct Faculty in the Online Diaspora. Wheeler, L. & Lassitter, S. Distance Learning Administrator s Conference. Jekyll Island, GA (June, 2013). Who Do We Think We Are? Dismantling Instructors' Assumptions in the Online Writing Classroom. Wheeler, L, VanDam, K. & Peterson, T. World Conference on elearning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare and Higher Ed. Vancouver, B.C. (October, 2010). Kids Stuff: Race and Rhetoric in the Brownies Book, Depictions of 'Otherness' in Nineteenth- and Twentieth- Century Children's Literature. RMMLA, Reno, NV. (October, 2008). The Closet: Angelina Weld Grimké s Heterotopic Short Story, The Closing Door. African American Literature and Culture Society Symposium of the American Literature Association. St. Louis, Missouri. (October, 2007). Cleaning the Slate: Reclaiming Frances Harper. Northeastern Modern Language Association Conference. Baltimore, MD (March, 2007).
PUBLICATIONS (ABRIDGED) The Queer Collaboration: Angelina Weld Grimke and the Birth Control Movement. Critical Insights: Gay and Lesbian Literature. Ed. Robert Evans. Salem Press. Ipswich MA. Upcoming, May, 2015. To Croon Weird, Sweet Melodies: The Fugitive Erotic in the Poetry of Mae V. Cowdery. Critical Insights: Gay and Lesbian Literature. Ed. Robert Evans. Salem Press, Ipswich, MA. Upcoming May, 2015. What a Difference a Hey Makes: Creating Community in the Online Diaspora. JOLT (Journal of Online Teaching and Learning), Under review. Who Do We Think We Are? Dismantling Instructors Assumptions in the Online Writing Classroom. Wheeler, L, VanDam, K. & Peterson, T. Online Classroom. In T. Bastiaens et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on E- Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2009 (pp. 2227-2231). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. The Heterotopic Closet: Reading Queer Space in Angelina Weld Grimké s The Closing Door. English Language Notes: Special Issue on Space. August, 2008. Sonia Sanchez: Poet, dramatist and musician Masterplots: African American Literature, 2nd Edition. Ed. Tracy Irons- Georges. Boston: Salem Press. October, 2008. Lucille Bogan s Blues. Transgression and Taboo. Ed. Vartan Messier. (A College English Association collection, 2006).
COMMUNITY SERVICE 2012 present Reviewer, Sonya Sanchez Review 2012 present Reviewer, African- American Review 2011 present Reviewer, Society for American Women Writers 2008 2009 Steering Committee Member, Office of Institutional Diversity, MSCD Promoted activities to support institutional diversity 2006 2007 Chair, Committee for Outreach and Guest Lectures 2006 2007 Coordinator, Colloquium on Ethnic Diversity PSU 2002 2005 Graduate Mentor for the McNair Scholar Program CU Support "at risk" and first- generation students entering PhD programs 2001 2003 Service- Learning Course Developer, CU Queer Rhetoric and the Community: Upper Division Prison Writing and Literacy: Upper Division