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Center for Literacy, Education & Employment


Sixteen members of EPC were commended at the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences Recognition Ceremony on April 23, 2015.

To see photos from the event, please go to the “CEHHS Recognition Ceremony 4.23.15” album on our EPC Facebook page.

Ralph G. Brockett
Interim Department Head; Adult Learning/Adult Education
– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books and Assessments for Teaching adults: A practical guide for new teachers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

 Jeff Cochran
Director of REACH Project; Clinical Mental Health Counseling
– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books and Assessments for The heart of counseling: Counseling skills through therapeutic relationships (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge
– Recognized under Presidents of National/International Professional Organizations for being President-Elect of Association for Humanistic Counseling
– Recognized under National/International Professional Awards Recipients for Bernard & Louise F. Guerney Award from the Association for Filial and Relationship Enhancement Methods

 Patrick L. Dunn
Program Co-Coordinator for Rehabilitation Counseling
– Recognized under Grants and Contracts Recipients for the Long-Term Training: Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf from the US Department of Education – Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services, $148,492

 Melinda Gibbons
Program Coordinator for Counselor Education/School Counseling
– Recognized under Editors/Co-Editors of Peer Reviewed Publications for being Associate Editor of Career Development Quarterly

Merilee McCurdy
Program Coordinator for School Psychology
– Recognized under Presidents of National/International Professional Organizations for being Chair-Elect of Council for Directors of School Psychology Programs

Jennifer Ann Morrow
Program Coordinator for Evaluation, Statistics & Measurement
– Recognized under UT Faculty/Staff Awards & Recognition for the Alumni Outstanding Teacher Award

Beth Ponder
Associate Director for Center for Literacy, Education & Employment
– Recognized under Grants and Contracts Recipients for the LINCS Regional Professional Development Centers Program from the US Department of Education, $368,130

Christopher H. Skinner
School Psychology
– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books and Assessments for Interventions for reading problems: Designing and evaluating effective strategies (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press

Shawn L. Spurgeon
Program Coordinator for Clinical Mental Health Counseling
– Recognized under Presidents of National/International Professional Organizations for being President of Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling
– Recognized under Presidents of National/International Professional Organizations for being President-Elect of Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
– Awarded a Dean’s Service Award

Jeannine Studer
Professor Emerita
– Recognized under Faculty & Staff Retirements for serving from 2003-2014

 Barbara Thayer-Bacon
Program Coordinator for Learning Environments & Educational Studies/Cultural Studies of Educational Foundations
– Recognized under Editors/Co-Editors of Peer Reviewed Publications for being Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Philosophy and Education

Michael Waugh
Instructional Technology/Learning Environments & Educational Studies
– Recognized under National/International Professional Awards Recipients for Best Paper Award from the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education Conference

Connie White
Associate Director for Center for Literacy, Education & Employment
– Recognized under Grants and Contracts Recipients for the Tennessee Adult Education Professional Development and Technical Assistance from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, $543,739

Brian Wilhoit
Director of Korn Learning, Assessment & Social Skills (KLASS) Center
– Recognized under Grants and Contracts Recipients for the FUTURE Program from the US Department of Education, $315,260

Marianne Woodside
Counselor Education/School Counseling
– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books and Assessments for Introduction to human services: Cases and applications (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole/Cengage
– Recognized under Faculty & Staff Retirements serving from 1979-2015

Mary Ziegler
Program Coordinator for Adult Learning; Program Co-Coordinator for Adult Education/Applied Educational Psychology
– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books and Assessments for Adult development and aging. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education
– Recognized under Faculty & Staff Retirements serving from 1993-2015


Duren-professionalheadshot-1Duren Thompson, Instructional Technology MS student, has been selected as a featured presenter during the 8th Annual Flipped Learning Conference this July.

The conference, FlipCon2015, is a Flipped Learning Network (FLN) event. FLN explains their mission as providing educators with the skills and resources needed to successfully implement Flipped Learning. This is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction is moved from the group space to the individual learning environment and the group learning environment is transformed into a dynamic, interactive problem-solving space.

Thompson submitted a presentation proposal for FlipCon2015 titled “Learning Through Doing: Models for Flipped PD.” The presentation is an interactive demonstration focused on flipping professional development for educators. Participants will explore and discuss three models for training educators in the flipped learning approach piloted with adult literacy practitioners, and make connections from that project to their personal practice. After peer-review, the proposal submission was not only accepted, but also chosen as a featured session. This honor includes free registration, a larger audience, a highlight in the program, and streaming to all Virtual Conference attendees.

Thompson has been a professional developer for educators since 1997, with a heavy focus in distance, online, and technology enhanced learning since 2000. She is an advocate for interactive webinars and currently a master’s student in Instructional Technology and a Program Coordinator with with the Center for Literacy, Education, and Employment.