Twenty-five members from Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling (EPC) were commended at the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS) Faculty and Staff Recognition Ceremony on April 25, 2018.

To see photos from the event, please go to the “EPC at the 2019 CEHHS Faculty & Staff Recognition Ceremony” album on our EPC Facebook page.

Awards

Gary L. & Rebecca S. Blauser Endowed Faculty Support Award in Honor of Bob Rider, Dean
Awarded to recognize current and past accomplishments or future projects of one outstanding faculty member for excellence in teaching, research, and/or service efforts within any CEHHS area.

Jennifer Ann Morrow
Associate Professor in Evaluation, Statistics & Measurement

“What I love most about working at UT is I get to mentor an amazing, diverse group of graduate students as they become more proficient in research methodology. A profound thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Blauser for their support for this award in honor of Dean Rider. Thank you!”

Helen B. Watson Faculty/Student Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation
Awarded to a student and the faculty member who directed the outstanding doctoral dissertation within the departments of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies; Educational Psychology and Counseling; Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies; or Theory and Practice in Teacher Education.

Recognition

Casey A. Barrio Minton
Professor & Program Coordinator for Clinical Mental Health Counseling

– Recognized under Presidents of National/International Professional Organizations for being President-Elect of Southern Association of Counselor Education & Supervision

– Recognized under Recipients of National/International Professional Awards for the American Counseling Association Fellow

Carolyn Blondin
Licensed Psychologist for the Korn Learning, Assessment & Social Skills Center

– Recognized under UT Faculty & Support Staff Service Awards for five years of service

Ralph G. Brockett
Professor in Adult Learning

– Recognized under UT Faculty & Support Staff Service Awards for 30 years of service

Beverly Cate
Accounting Specialist II

– Recognized under UT Faculty & Support Staff Service Awards for 25 years of service

Synthia Clark
Administrative Specialist I

– Recognized under UT Support Staff Awards & Certifications for the AECT Design & Development Competition Award

Lisa Crawford
Associate Director of the Center for Literacy, Education & Employment

– Recognized under Grants & Contracts Recipients as PI for the TDOE Summer Trainings, Tennessee Department of Education, $621,980

Stephanie Daniels
PhD Candidate in School Psychology

– Recognized under Grants & Contracts Recipients as PI for “Understanding students’ typing skills: Evaluating the effects and efficiency of a typing intervention for elementary school students,” Society for the Study of School Psychology, $5,000

David Fields
Program Manager/Event Manager of the Center for Literacy, Education & Employment

– Recognized under UT Faculty & Support Staff Service Awards for 10 years of service

Katherine H. Greenberg
Professor Emerita

– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books & Assessments Published 2018-2019 for Greenberg, K. H., Sohn, B. K., Greenberg, N. B., Pollio, H. R., Thomas, S. P., & Smith, J. T. (2019). The phenomenological heart of teaching and learning: Theory, research, and practice in higher education. New York, NY: Routledge.

Aaron Kohring
Director of the Center for Literacy, Education & Employment

– Recognized under Grants & Contracts Recipients as Co-PI for the TDOE Summer Trainings, Tennessee Department of Education, $621,980

Robert Kronick
Professor & Director of University-Assisted Community Schools

– Recognized under Grants & Contracts Recipients as PI for the University-Assisted Community Schools, United Way of Greater Knoxville via Catholic Charities, $125,000 of anticipated $375,000

R. Steve McCallum
Professor in School Psychology

– Recognized under Editors/Co-Editors of Peer Reviewed Publication for being Co-Founder and Consulting Editor of the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment

– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books & Assessments Published 2018-2019 for Bracken, B. A., & McCallum, R. S. (2018). Universal nonverbal intelligence test. Austin, TX: ProEd Publishing Company

– Recognized under Authors/Editors of Books & Assessments Published 2018-2019 for McCallum, R. S., & Bracken, B. A. (2018). Universal talented and gifted screener (UTAGS). Austin, TX: Prufrock Publishing Company

Merilee McCurdy
Associate Department Head, Associate Professor & Program Coordinator for School Psychology

– Recognized under Grants & Contracts Recipients as PI for “Understanding students’ typing skills: Evaluating the effects and efficiency of a typing intervention for elementary school students,” Society for the Study of School Psychology, $5,000

Lauren Moret
Assistant Professor in Evaluation, Statistics & Measurement

– Recognized under 2019 Chancellor’s Honors Awards for Excellence in Teaching

Jennifer Ann Morrow
Associate Professor in Evaluation, Statistics & Measurement

– Recognized under 2019 Chancellor’s Honors Awards for Excellence in Advising

Louis Rocconi
Assistant Professor in Evaluation, Statistics & Measurement

– Recognized under Grants & Contracts Recipients as PI for “Measuring quality in legal education: Examining the relationship between law school rank and student engagement,” Association of Institutional Research, $50,000

Blaine Sample
Coordinator I of University-Assisted Community Schools

– Recognized under UT Faculty & Support Staff Service Awards for five years of service

Mike Sass
East TN Teaching Coordinator & Team Leader of the Center for Literacy, Education & Employment

– Recognized under 2018-2019 Faculty & Staff Retirements, 1996-2018

Gary J. Skolits
Associate Professor & Program Coordinator for Evaluation, Statistics & Measurement

– Recognized under Editors/Co-Editors of Peer Reviewed Publications for being Co-Editor of The Qualitative Review

Qi Sun
Associate Professor & Program Coordinator for Adult Learning

– Recognized under Editors/Co-Editors of Peer Reviewed Publications for being Co-Editor of Adult Education Quarterly
– Recognized under Recipients of National/International Professional Awards for the Outstanding Service Award by The American Association of Adult and Continuing Education

Christine Tidwell
Administrative Specialist III

– Recognized under UT Faculty & Support Staff Service Awards for 15 years of service

Connie White
Associate Director of the Center for Literacy, Education & Employment

– Recognized under 2018-2019 Faculty & Staff Retirements, 1990-2018

Brian Wilhoit
Director of the Korn Learning, Assessment & Social Skills Center

– Recognized under UT Faculty & Support Staff Service Awards for 10 years of service

Two students and one faculty member from the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling received awards at the Graduate Student Senate Awards Ceremony and Breakfast on April 5, 2019.

photo contributed by the Graduate School, Steven Bridges

Brenna Butler | Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching

“As a graduate student considering a future career involving teaching, this award made me feel validated in my ability to teach in an effective way. It was also great to be recognized for my work as a GTA and realizing that the effort placed into this role was appreciated.”

Brenna is a PhD student in the Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement program and a Graduate Teaching Associate for EDPY 550 – Applied Statistical Concepts, EDPY 577 – Statistics in Applied Fields I, and EDPY 677 – Statistics in Applied Fields II.

This award is presented to graduate teaching assistants and associates for extraordinary performance in teaching.

photo contributed by the Graduate School, Steven Bridges

Gary J. Skolits | Graduate Research Mentor of the Year

The Graduate Research Mentor of the Year award was a special surprise and honor for me. Spending quality time working with graduates students on their research efforts is its own reward. To be appreciated and recognized by the students themselves for these research mentoring efforts is a singular honor for me as a faculty member. This award truly will be a career highlight.

Gary is an associate professor and program coordinator of the Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement program.

This award recognizes faculty and staff members who have shown outstanding commitment to mentoring graduate research students.

photo contributed by the Graduate School, Steven Bridges

Arden Szepe | Excellence in Service

Service holds a special place in the field of Counselor Education and in my heart. Being recognized with this award was validating in my development as a counselor educator and advocate for the counseling profession.

Arden is a PhD Candidate in the Counselor Education program. She was recently recognized as a Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) Fellow for 2019/2020. Arden currently serves as president of the Upsilon Theta chapter, UT’s local chapter of CSI, and as a member on the Dean’s Graduate Student Advisory Board for the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. Previously, she served on the National Career Development Month Committee for the National Career Development Association.

This award is presented to graduate and professional students who are extraordinary campus leaders, participate in service learning or other community initiatives, and/or provide service leadership to their academic discipline through service in professional organizations.

Wenshu Li, PhD Candidate in Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement, won a two-year Evaluation Fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in August, 2015.

It was a rigorous process involving an application (including an essay, transcripts, and resume), a survey, and three different interviews. At the end, she was matched with her first choice of available programs and started work with the Division of Global Health Protection in Atlanta, GA. There, she’s been utilizing quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, preparing logic models, identifying and developing indicators and data sources, and coordinating activities to advance implementation of the Global Health Security Agenda.

We asked her some questions about her experience so far. Read her responses below.

What interested you in the Fellowship?
There are several reasons. First of all, CDC is a perfect place for me to gain program evaluation experience. I could work together with experienced evaluators in a team to conduct cross-national evaluation studies. I would have opportunities to learn how to collaborate with different stakeholders (such as Ministry of Health staff in different countries, CDC officers in other countries, leadership within division/center, etc.) and conduct large scale evaluation. Secondly, the fellowship provided great benefits. In addition to decent stipend, fellows have $5,000 each year to spend on professional trainings (workshop, conferences, books, etc), and a health insurance supplement. Finally, location. I really needed a job in the Atlanta area because my husband and his whole family live there. I wanted to stay with my family.

What has this experience been like?
It’s hard to describe the experience in several sentences. But overall I would say it is really a good experience for a new graduate like me. First of all, you have a great opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in graduate school into practice and make an impact on the public (domestically and internationally). Secondly, you get to know a lot of great people who are working on the field as experts and learn from them. Thirdly, I really enjoy the experience to collaborate with people from all over the world. My fellowship program is nested in the center of global health within the CDC. To conduct global health evaluation, we have to collaborate within CDC with other centers/subject matter experts, with other US agencies, such as USAID and DOD, and with international partners, such as Ministries of Health in other countries.

How has it enhanced your professional development?
The best part and uniqueness of the fellowship is its nature of providing the fellows with plenty of experiences and professional development opportunities. In addition to stay in the host program, fellows can reach out to work on other small projects through the fellowship program by using 20% of their time during a 2-3 month periods. The fellowship program also hosted a lot of workshops such as scientific writing and public speaking as well as provided $5000 professional development funding for each fellow. Fellows can make use of the funding to purchase books, attend conferences or workshops, and even take courses.

What impact did the Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement program have on obtaining this fellowship and the work you are completing as a Fellow?
Close mentorship and the curriculum of the program; the great opportunities to collaborate with faculty and students on diverse research projects and gain various field experiences. I was focused on evaluation of STEM programs. But, I’ve engaged in several public health evaluation field practice, which helped me to get my CDC Fellowship.

Do you enjoy living in Atlanta?
Yes, most of the time. I can stay with my husband and his family. I enjoy a lot of family time with them. There is also delicious food (from Asia) and interesting social events in Atlanta area. But, the traffic in Atlanta really is the reason I am afraid of living in big cities. I have to drive an hour one way from my home to work because of the traffic.

Is there anything else you would like to say?
I really want to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, associate professor Gary J. Skolits, and other ESM faculty and students. Millions of thanks for your expertise, constructive comments, support, and time in my graduate study and life at ESM program. I could not get the fellowship without your endless support.