EDPC
Educational Development Professionals Conference
Plenary Sessions
Russell Carpenter
Eastern Kentucky University
Russell Carpenter, PhD, is the Assistant Provost and Professor of English at Eastern Kentucky University. Carpenter serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Faculty Development and past editor of the Communication Center Journal. Carpenter has written or edited a wide range of books including Engaging Millennial Faculty, Studio-Based Approaches for Multimodal Projects, Writing Studio Pedagogy, and Sustainable Learning Spaces. Carpenter is the former President of the Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) and Chair of the National Association of Communication Centers. He received the 2018 Turner Award from the National Association of Communication Centers, along with the 2015 Preston Award for Leadership. In 2020, he was awarded the Southeastern Writing Center Association’s highest recognition, the Achievement Award. Carpenter has received multiple top-panel awards from the National Communication Association’s Communication Center division for scholarship focused on innovations in multimodal communication, program design, and communication-focused partnerships.
PLENARY
Innovation in Educational Development: Designing Approaches for Engagement
At many institutions, student success, learning, and retention continue to factor prominently in teaching initiatives and academic leadership. Barriers to engagement, however, suggest the need for innovation in educational development. Leaders across higher education institutions continue to ask important questions in these areas, especially in light of recent technological shifts. How can we engage faculty and our institutional communities in meaningful interactions and development? How can creative and innovative approaches help us identify new ways of designing impactful practices across teaching spaces, student learning experiences, and educational development initiatives?
We will first identify common barriers to engagement in educational development. Foregrounding creativity in educational development practices and designs, we will then examine innovative approaches you can incorporate into your initiatives and foster engagement to address such barriers.
Shantell
Strickland-Davis
Central Piedmont Community College
Shantell Strickland-Davis, PhD, is the Associate Vice President of Organizational Learning and Leadership Development at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC. She serves as the college’s chief talent officer and has the privilege of consulting with all units of the college in the design and development of faculty, staff, and leadership professional learning, programming, and resources that support a culture of institutional excellence. Strickland-Davis oversees all facets of professional learning and engagement at the college, including equity, diversity, and inclusion programs, faculty development, online teaching, educational development, technology education, and support for college leaders and administrators. Strickland-Davis also teaches in an adjunct faculty capacity to maintain her connection to students and student success practices. Strickland-Davis is a published author and presenter whose research agenda includes faculty efficacy and confidence and understanding the ways in which community college faculty are best supported through classroom instruction, assessment, and engagement.