Campus Presence

Strong faculty presence on this campus is required. Such on-campus presence is necessary for faculty activities beyond the classroom which include but are not limited to the following: faculty administration; academic advising and tutoring, student recruitment and interactions, University governance; participating in general institutional functions; participating in community-based learning and leadership development activities; advising student organizations; and participating in or supporting student cultural and athletic activities.

- NDNU Faculty Handbook

What is presence on campus? Is it recognition by students? Is it recognition by colleagues and superiors? Is it tributes from students? Is it feedback from students applauding the contribution you have made to the completion of their program? Lou Chang, Department Head of the Single/Multiple Subject Programs, handed me an exit evaluation from one of our candidates. It was with both pride and amusement that I read her answers to several questions regarding the effectiveness of the single-subject program. In each answer space she had written “Anabel.”

I believe presence on campus is best illustrated by the lives I affect. It is with that goal in mind that I became a professor at NDNU University. If current and future teachers are to change the present negative statistics about achievement in California, they must be convinced of their importance and power. I strive to build this attitude in each of the credential candidates.

Academic Advising

An important part of my work beyond the classroom is advising and counseling students. These relationships often continue long after graduation; for example here is a letter from former student Josh Bloom.

I serve as second reader for approximately five students currently working on their Master's Degrees. One of these Master's students recently completed her thesis on emotional intelligence for autistic/mentally challenged children.

I have supervised or am supervising these graduate and doctoral students (enrolled in NDNU and elsewhere):

In addition, I am often asked by students, in the multiple and single subject program, to visit their classrooms and give them information about their student teaching. While this is not an official part of my job description, I work to meet these requests. I recognize that new teachers need encouragement and an abundance of feedback so that they can meet the goals they have established for themselves (See this email with a student teacher.)

Events

In addition to areas covered in other sections of this portfolio (e.g., Faculty Administration, Academic Advising, Student Recruitment, University Governance), it has been my practice to attend the following general institutional functions; this can be attested to by Interim Dean Joan Rossi and Interim Provost Judi Greig.

Functions include:

• University Day
• Graduate Student Awards Ceremony
• Graduation Mass
• Commencement Ceremony and Convocation
• I have also been at several of the NDNU Theater Performances as well, including Dead Man Walking and A Christmas Carol.

Outreach

As part of marketing and public relations for the university, I also strive to create university presence off campus as well. For example, whenever I speak (schools / districts / conferences, etc.), I invariable mention that I am a professor at NDNU and that "outstanding multiple and single subject credential programs" exist. Moreover, I network with as many other colleges and universities as possible (and work with many professors, authors, and speakers in the NexusEQ Conferences) and serve on the advising board of the textbook that I use for Pyschological Foundations 210 -- Annual Edition Educational Psychology, edited by Kathleen M Cauley, Fredric Linder, and James H. McMillan and published by McGraw-Hill/Dushkin (here is the page where I am listed on the Board of Advisors. For more about the book, see the publisher's web site).

Update on 10/06:

Being committed to the academic growth and development of all students at the university, when I was approached by Judith Greig, Provost, to present some aspect of emotional intelligence to the freshman class, I readily agreed. So 150 freshmen were given a presentation examining the concept of resiliency - what is it, how do we obtain it, and how do we hang on to it? Within the framework of this presentation, students defined resiliency, examined the components, and contemplated adversity busting. They left the seminar (presented twice to 75 students each time) with several practical steps: 1) labeling adversities to soothe the amygdala; 2) analyzing core aspects to provide solutions; 3) using self-talk helps to “bust” adversities; 4) building new perspectives; and 5) developing a personal motto.

As a result of this exposure and the feedback of several students, I approached Neil Marshall and sought approval of an opportunity to both gather scientific data and give the students additional information about their emotional intelligence. Beginning November 6, 2006 students will be invited to go online and take the Six Seconds' Emotional Intelligence Inventory (SEI). For volunteers responding, each will receive a copy of the SEI Strengths Profile. This report identifies the respondent's highest three competencies, defines each, provides a brief rationale, and makes application suggestions. Here is an overview of the research study about NDNU students' emotional intelligence and the links to academic and life success as well as health and risk behaviors.

And when Vince Fitzgerald, Chair of Educational Effectiveness Training Task Force, asked me to attend several of the FYI classes in order to present data and ideas about growing empathy, I also agreed to do so. So, during October 2006, I taught five classes on empathy utilizing personal stories, Play-Doh, movie clips, and empathy cards (i.e., a Six Seconds' product) (see letter from Vince Fitzgerald).

In this instance, students examined the differences between empathy, sympathy, and pity, performed a brief empathy self-assessment, and looked at the research on the value of empathy in our daily lives. This beginning was continued with the identification of the six steps in the listening continuum, and then followed by the empathy growth process. The lesson was concluded with sample case studies (i.e., empathy cards) and potential action steps when empathy is needed/deserved.

Many of my psychological students in pursuit of their Masters' Degrees have asked me to serve as their second reader. I presently have three students for whom I am performing this service. They are: Lauren Biagi, Stella Tsing, and Meghann McIntyre. Some of them have chosen some aspect of emotional intelligence to research, which is gratifying and rewarding.

It has also been my pleasure to provide academic support for Peggy Koshland-Crane, Director of the Academic Success Center (see letter). She is working on her Ed.D. at San Francisco State University. Her content area is a subtopic of emotional intelligence. She will be using Six Seconds' emotional intelligence assessment to determine if training teachers in observing and interpreting body language results in an increase in their emotional intelligence. Along those same lines, I served as a second reader for Karen Davison, an intern at NDNU, who was completing her Masters' Degree on resiliency from the Wright Institute. She finished in July and has moved on to Stanford to begin work on her doctorate (see email). I am also a current second reader for various other individuals around the country. The present list includes: Ilene McDonough, Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio; Laura Celis Black, Houston, Texas; and Barbara Fatum, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California.

Frequently students find themselves in a bind and need to pick up an independent study class in order to fulfill some state/district credentialing requirement. This summer I provided advice, counsel, etc. for Valerie Pugh, even though I had begun my summer vacation.

Finally, and significantly for students at NDNU, I have always agreed to accept additional enrollees for Educational Psychology 210 beyond the requisite 25 class maximum. For example, this semester one class has thirty-one students and the second class has twenty-seven students.

One of the plays I attended:

Everywhere, we learn only from those whom we love.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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