Employee accomplishments,
new hires & promotions
IEC EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH – Amy Bond, student enrollment support specialist, and Jennifer Yearous, records processing specialist, are the most recent selections for the Integrated Enrollment Center (IEC) 'Employee of the Month' program. All employees directly related to IEC, including those in the Centers, are eligible for the program, and must be nominated by another employee from a different service area.
August's 'Employee of the Month' was Amy Bond, who was recognized for superior customer service to UIU faculty, staff, students and others. According to her nominator, "Amy is very pleasant, knowledgeable, and helpful. She always uses the resources available to answer any questions the student might have. I have worked with Amy for some time, since she was one of our contacts for online accounts before we all moved to the IEC. She has always been good to work with and was an excellent choice for the Inbound Call Center."
September's 'Employee of the Month' is Jennifer Yearous. "She is always eager to help walk-in students even though she's in the middle of a stack of work," said her nominator. "She always has an upbeat personality and goes above and beyond to answer questions for students even when they don't pertain to her specialty. She wants things to be perfect for VA students. She always seems to have a smile on her face."
ROBIN GALLOWAY is the new instructional designer in the Center for Distance Education. In his new role, he is working with faculty and staff on instructional design issues, uses of multimedia and online course development and delivery. Galloway has 12 years of experience in the field of instructional technology at the University of Northern Iowa. As a term instructor, he designed and taught courses for traditional, blended, and online learning environments and also supported faculty with the integration of educational technologies. His professional experience includes teaching, instructional design, facilitating workshops, and supporting faculty and staff use of technology to enhance teaching and learning.
KRISTOPHER BLANCHARD, Ph.D., has been appointed as the master's of business administration program chair. Blanchard joins the UIU faculty as an associate professor in the Division of Business.
Blanchard said Upper Iowa is a perfect fit for him, and he is happy to be joining the Division of Business faculty at a time when Upper Iowa University has increased the value of the MBA degree by improving the quality of the program and stressing the importance of social responsibility.
"The business world is constantly evolving," he said, "and we need to get students ready for that. We need to teach them more about innovation and social responsibility, as well."
Blanchard's research focus is social entrepreneurship, which he said goes hand-in-hand with social responsibility and changing the world for the better using sound business practices. "These are things companies are dealing with today," he added. "We need to train our students to think this way as well, and that is what Upper Iowa University has done by upgrading its curriculum for the MBA program."
Blanchard's teaching philosophy includes getting students involved in real-world situations and projects to help them fully grasp the concepts taught in the classroom.
He comes to UIU with experiences in higher education teaching and administration, serving as associate professor, dean of faculty and graduate program chair coupled with more than a decade of experience in corporate management. He held management positions in two Fortune 500 companies and pursued several entrepreneurial ventures. He earned his bachelor of science in accounting and master of business administration in finance from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Ind., and his doctorate in organization and management from Capella University.
BARBARA MURDOCK joined UIU September 4 as director of the new UIU-Mesa Center. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in broadcast journalism and management from the Arizona State University/Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications and a master of arts in organizational management/human relations from the University of Phoenix. She comes to UIU with a background in both print and television journalism as well sales and higher education. She has served as a senior admissions manager with the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, an executive enrollment advisor/trainer with Western International University and an adjunct faculty and academic advisor with Ottawa University.
RACHEL MAJEWSKI was promoted to assistant professor and clinical coordinator of athletic training education. She has been an Assistant Athletic Trainer and instructor at Upper Iowa University since 2009. Prior to coming to Upper Iowa, she was Head Athletic Trainer at Grundy Center High School and Grundy County Hospital. Majewski earned a bachelor's degree from Coe College in athletic training and a master's degree in advanced athletic training from the University of Northern Iowa. She has multiple scholarly publications in peer-reviewed journals with research interests in the motivational climate in the rehabilitation setting and in patient outcomes following treatment and rehabilitation post-surgery or injury. . Majewski teaches courses in athletic training education and courses in health, physical education, and recreation (HPER).
DR. CLAUDIA MCNEELEY joins UIU as the teacher education coordinator for UIU-Mesa. Her professional experience spans 30 years as a classroom teacher, site coach, new teacher mentor, Title I district coordinator, and state education program specialist in the area of school effectiveness and K-12 literacy. In addition, she has worked in diverse and academically challenging situations as well as in high socio-economic areas. Claudia's passion revolves around planning, implementing and sustaining systemic reform initiatives at school, district and state levels that have included response to intervention, reading first, structured English immersion, and English learners.
Dr. McNeeley has bachelor's degree in elementary education with an emphasis in literacy from Grand Canyon University, a master's degree in elementary education from Arizona State University and both a MEd and EdD. in educational leadership from Northern Arizona State University. She holds teacher licensure in early childhood education, elementary and secondary reading, Structured English Immersion, and school administration.
DR. R. KEVIN MACKIN joined UIU as assistant professor of education on the Fayette campus. Most recently, he was a faculty member of the Graduate Teaching Licensure Program at College of St. Scholastica in St. Paul. He has many years of experience as a high school teacher and principal and as an education consultant and writer. He has a bachelor's degree in secondary education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a master's degree in counseling and student personnel psychology from the University of Minnesota, an ED.S. in secondary administration from the University of St. Thomas and an EdD. in educational leadership from Bethel University. He will be teaching courses in the Master of Education program and secondary methods courses.