Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. This week’s featured faculty member is Dr. Glenn Baete, Assistant Professor in the College of Education who serves as the Director of Advanced Programs such as the JCPS Aspiring Leaders Principal Certification Program and the Master of School Guidance Counseling program. He teaches in the principal prep and Doctor of Education (EdD): Leadership programs. Dr. Baete recently retired from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), where he served 27 years as Assistant Superintendent, Principal (Doss High School), Assistant Principal and teacher. He also served a term as Interim Chief Operations Officer. Dr. Baete holds three degrees from the University of Louisville – a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s in secondary education and an EdD in educational leadership and organizational development.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

Spalding University has a rich tradition in preparing educators and school leaders, and I enjoy furthering the University’s mission in these areas. My role as the Director of Advanced Programs has allowed me to develop partnerships with local school districts to assist with advancing their academic priorities while promoting the University. But most importantly, my first job (ever) was teaching, and I enjoy working with school principal candidates and preparing them for leadership opportunities.

I also serve as a chair or committee member for Spalding EdD students and love helping our students examine research topics that add to the knowledge base and have implications at the local, state and national levels.

What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise or research?

My research background is in school transformation and reform, academic system development, and school and district relationships. I have published research regarding differentiated leadership, standards-based approaches to teaching and grading, and developing district-wide systems to support instructional innovation. As a practitioner, I assisted with the development of the JCPS Six Essential Systems for a Strong Learning Environment that is currently used across all schools in the JCPS District.

MORE ON JCPS ASPIRING LEADERS PROGRAM
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Why are the College of Educations programs in which you teach a good option for students to consider?

The College of Education has outstanding advanced programs for individuals seeking to become school leaders. Our School Counseling and Principal Preparation programs are taught by individuals with a great deal of experience with school leadership, and our adjunct faculty currently serve in school, district and state leadership positions. Most importantly, all programs in the College of Education combine a strong instructional foundation with relevant and current practical clinical experiences that have been developed alongside leaders in JCPS and other surrounding school districts.

What is an example of a discussion topic, lecture, assignment, project, etc. in your class that you enjoy presenting or working with students on and that they have found engaging?

Leaders in all areas, including education, often have to examine and address issues through four distinct lenses (structural, human resource, political and symbolic). Many times, these lenses come in conflict with one another, and leaders have to grapple with how one decision impacts one frame positively while having alternate impacts on others. We spend a great deal of time examining school-based leadership issues through these frames through case studies, simulations and interviews and understanding the importance of strong leadership to navigate challenging situations.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION OVERVIEW | All Spalding bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs

What is an interesting thing you have in your office?

Since I am doing most of my work virtually, my two most interesting items in my office are my two dogs – Chandler Bing (a Cockapoo) and Penny (a Goldendoodle).

Spalding’s mission is to meet the needs of the times, to emphasize service and to promote peace and justice. What is an example of how your teaching style, your research, your class or your curriculum is supporting the mission of Spalding?

As part of the Principal Preparation Program’s work with the JCPS Aspiring Leaders cohort, we have placed the district’s Racial Equity pillar “front and center” as we discuss and develop candidate’s skills and dispositions regarding teaching and learning; human resource, community, and organizational development; and reflection regarding issues surrounding race. Our candidates will complete a portfolio of artifacts that align with the tenets of the JCPS Racial Equity Pillar and ensure that will be used to determine their readiness to serve as leaders in our commonwealth’s most diverse school district.

FACULTY FOCUS FRIDAY ARCHIVE | Read all our professor Q&A’s

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. In celebration of Social Work Month in March, today’s featured faculty member is Dr. Shannon Cambron, Professor and Faculty Chair for the Spalding School of Social Work. Dr. Cambron, a longtime Spalding faculty member who became social work chair in 2018, holds three degrees from the university – a bachelor’s, a Master of Social Work and a Doctorate of Education (EdD): Leadership. Dr. Cambron, who was a 2018 Bingham Fellow, is leading Spalding’s launch of the first Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program in Louisville and one of the first in Kentucky this fall (pending SACSCOC approval), and she is an organizer of the School of Social Work’s upcoming annual public conference, on March 27, focused on understanding and combating institutional racism. (Register here.)

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?
I am a triple alumna of Spalding, and I am actually the second of three generations of women who graduated from Spalding. Obviously I have an investment to Spalding and have decided that this is a good place to be. What appealed to me as a student and educator was the emphasis on building relationships with students as the best vehicle for learning and teaching, and that it is a collaborative process. I learn just as much from my students as they ever do from me. Spalding creates a safe space for all students that really allows them to come with a passion to know and understand something. Spalding allows us to explore the whys and hows of things in our lives and our community, but we can do it in an environment where I have 20 students that I get to know and build relationships with. I have the opportunity to let them learn to trust me, and out of that trust come incredible learning experiences for all of us. Additionally, I appreciate that Spalding is a social justice institution, and we can have difficult conversations that other institutions would not even try to tackle. We can boldly have these conversations about institutional racism, redlining and bias, and that is something we do on a daily basis. We create a space for our students to have these conversations. I am considered by many to be a radical social justice individual, but the cool thing is you can have a radical social justice change agent find a comfortable home at Spalding.

School of Social Work Overview | Details on all of Spalding’s programs
New DSW Information | Press release announcement, Program overview, Program of Study
Social Work Faculty Bios | Info on all of Spalding’s highly accomplished professors

What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise or research?
I am a social worker by trade, and my doctorate is in educational leadership. That has afforded me this really cool space to be able to function within higher education and bring those social justice causes into this arena. My primary focus of research is racial equity and addressing the implications of institutional racism as it shows up in and throughout our community. Also, (that includes) focusing on how that plays out with young adults in our community and how that is expressed oftentimes through what the community perceives to be acts of violence and aggression. My research indicates that it is simply the same kind of push-back responses we might have had when I was young, but when I was young I didn’t have cellphones that gave me immediate access to potentially escalate something to the point of no return. I firmly believe institutional and systemic racism plays a huge part in the escalation of these behaviors for our young adults.

Why is social work a good option for students to consider?
The world needs to change. There is no way, no matter your age that you can get up and not be impacted by something that is happening, unfortunately in a negative capacity – whether it is the long-term impact of the federal budget deficit, or scaled-back protections of the environment, or that racism is alive and well. It is there, and it is bold and aggressively stealing life out of communities. So if you wake up and you see that, your response is going to be one of two things: Either this does not impact me, or, this is not the world I want to be in. If your response is the last one, then social work is the place for you, because it is the profession that says your job is to make the world a better place.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?
My Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure, because that was a gift from my daughter. The idea that I am making the connection and she is seeing the connection then it shows I am helping the next generation recognize that it is not just Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself but what she represents. The second thing in my office I love is this coffee cup that talks about the 100 years of women’s suffrage, and 2020 marks the 100-year anniversary of women earning the right to vote. This cup was a gift from my aunt this year. Both of these were gifts from women in my life who are really important.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Seeing students come to life. There is a quote that has become a part of my core these past few years by Howard Thurman. The quote says, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, because what the world really needs is people who have come alive.” So watching students come alive, having them start their journey and preparing to be a social worker and being a part of their journey and reaching the point of graduation, you know they are launching into the thing that they envisioned a couple years ago. Since we are a small institution and we get to know our students, I sit up on that platform at graduation and I watch students walk in front of me and I know where they are going and what they are going to do. You had the honor of stepping into the journey with that student and that they are going to leave that platform and change the world.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?
I think the position I am in right now is one I am very humbled by and one that gives me the chance to model some things that I have grown up believing and that I have developed a professional focus on. And a lot of that has to do with servant leadership and transformational leadership. For me, changing the world every day is pulling into this campus in my car and recommitting myself to this job. If I am doing the work that I am called to do to the best of my ability and finding new ways every day to try to be better, that impacts the faculty I am privileged to work with, and they go out and impact students, and those students impact the community. It is an overwhelming feeling pulling into the parking lot knowing that I get to go in and do this job, and if I am granted the opportunity to do it well, then maybe I have a chance of making a difference in a student’s life and the community is all the better for it because that student becomes the change agent.

Faculty Focus Friday Archive | Read all our professor Q&A’s

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Charles Maynard, Associate Professor of undergraduate writing in the School of Liberal Studies (faculty bios here) and Director of the Spalding Writing Center. Professor Maynard is a novelist and writer/creator of role-playing games and card games who is also on the graduate faculty of Spalding’s School of Creative and Professional Writing. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Spalding.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

I like the small class sizes and the opportunity to gravitate to areas where I have strengths, and have people be accepting of that.

What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise or research?

I teach first-year writing, and I run the Writing Center on campus. So my areas of expertise are academic writing and professional writing, and my degrees are in creative writing. So my areas of expertise are all types of writing.

LEARN MORE | Overview of the School of Liberal Studies
OTHER LIBERAL STUDIES FACULTY Q&As | Minda Reves, Chris Kolb, Dorina Parmenter, Deonte Hollowell
LEARN MORE | Overview of the School of Creative and Professional Writing
ESSAY BY PROFESSOR MAYNARD | “Emulate and Play: A Look at Role-Playing Games and Inspiration”

Why is liberal studies a good option for new students to consider as their major?

Liberal studies acts as a foundational element in the life of a learner and creative person. I think it’s important to have that foundation because it supports all of those other things that are built upon it. Liberal studies is focused on finding connections between the past and future and why the past influences the future, looking at historical context, art, literature, diversity and how things shift and evolve over time. I think it’s important for young people to make those connections so that they can see that things were not always like this. How can I take in all that information and synthesize it to recreate the world so that I can make it a better place? I think this degree prepares them with practical elements like learning to write, synthesize thoughts, make connections and apply it to their passions. I think it’s important to realize passion and what drives students, and the faculty in liberal studies tries to focus on that for their students.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?

My wife gave me these glow-in-the-dark stars to put on the wall, and I put them up there. And then I got a desk in my office. I do not know who had the desk before me, but there was a dried banana in the back and it was desiccated and wrinkled, so I put poster gum on the wall and stuck the dried banana to the wall so it would look like the moon with the stars. I made a sign that said organic moon, and then the banana fell behind the cabinet and I couldn’t move it, so the sign is still hanging up and the banana is somewhere in my office.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Working with a student in the Writing Center or classroom and see them have major obstacles and then see them start to figure out ways to problem-solve and overcome those obstacles. Once they overcome those obstacles and have that eureka moment, (you can) watch them start to gain some confidence and then watch that evolve as they move through academia and their college experience and then graduate. I like to see that level of accomplishment, that level of confidence and that they succeeded based off the goals they set for themselves.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?

I hope they see that I am able to give them the tools to problem-solve, enhance their creativity, expand their desire to know and understand the world around them and themselves. These are positive tools. And I am doing this with some awareness of my place in the world and the lens I see the world through and myself through, so I am changing around them as well. I hope I am equipping them to be more conscious and aware human beings in their interactions with themselves and the world around them. It’s the little pieces or building blocks that multiple instructors, support units and conversations serve to build, so the student can reflect on it to help reduce conflict.

FACULTY FOCUS FRIDAY ARCHIVE | Read all our professor Q&As

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Dr. Jennifer Doyle, Associate Professor of Biology and Chair of the School of Natural Science, which awards the Bachelor of Science in Natural Science and offers biology, chemistry, math and other science courses that many undergraduate students need to apply to health-related professional schools such as med school, dental school, vet school, physical therapy school and pharmacy school. Dr. Doyle holds a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University and earned her master’s and doctorate from the University of Kentucky.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

My favorite thing is the family aspect I get here at Spalding between the faculty and staff and also my students. I really get to know my students and their family background and really just get to help be their support system, which you cannot always get at large universities.

What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise or research?

I am a biologist, so I teach various biology classes, but some of my favorites are cell biology and genetics. My doctorate is in plant pathology, and I studied how pathogens and host cells interact on the cellular level. My current research is on viruses that can hopefully glean new findings that could benefit scientific knowledge about human diseases.

LEARN MORE | Overview of the Bachelor of Science in Natural Science
RELATED | Q&A with Natural Science faculty Jeremy White, math professor
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Why is natural science a good option for new students to consider as their major?

The natural science program at Spalding really has one-on-one interactions that help students because they are taking difficult courses. Personalized instruction allows professors to tweak their teaching to better fit the smaller classes. The opportunities that exist at large universities to take challenging science courses also exist here, but just at a more personalized level.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?

I have a fish fossil that my dad brought back from Brazil for me when I was 6 or 7 years old. It is one of those things that reminds me that even though in high school I did not think I would be a biologist, it has always interested me. So I keep that to remind me that deep down it is who I am and that the field of study you choose to go into should be something that really fascinates you.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

When former students come back after graduation and they are continuing doing what they love. For example, I just had a former student who just graduated from veterinary school and received a master’s degree in public health. Her coming back and having such a good experience in graduate school was rewarding. I love hearing from former students and knowing they got everything they needed to be successful from Spalding.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?

I think it helps change the world because I am putting future scientists into the world. I see future doctors, researchers, veterinary scientists and physical therapists, and I know they will go out and do something great. It is almost like a logarithmic scale because it keeps growing and inspiring others to do great.

FACULTY FOCUS FRIDAY ARCHIVE | Read all of our professor Q&As

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Dishant Pandya, Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance in the School of Business. Read bios of the School of Business’ faculty here.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

I like the small class sizes, so I can connect with my students. I usually am able to connect with them because I get them all the way from freshman through senior year. By then we have a stronger relationship than just student and teacher, so I get emails after graduation about where they work and what they are doing.

What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise or research?

I teach economics and finance here at Spalding. I have my master’s in economics, and I am currently getting my doctorate in finance. We just started a Certified Financial Planning concentration for the Business Administration major, which helps students manage other people’s money. This a new program that we just started this year, and I am excited about it. Spalding is the only university in Louisville where you can concentrate on financial planning as part of your undergraduate degree.

LEARN MORE | School of Business programs
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION CONCENTRATIONS | Details on marketing, financial planning, sports management, HR Management
MS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION | Learn about Spalding’s innovative alternative to the MBA

Why is business a good option for new students to consider as their major?

No matter your education or major, business is always something you need. Even if you go into a different field or degree program, you should at least take some basic business, finance and economic classes. With economics, I like to tell students that they should be able to listen to a political message on the news and realize if the information is true or not. With finance, you always want to be able to manage your own money and not rely on someone else to do it.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?

I have a lot of interesting things in my office like Yoda, Dumbledore and Darth Vader figures, and it’s always a mess.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I always tell my students that in 10 years you should be able to make more money than me and that if you aren’t, then you need to find another job. So, when students tell me they are making more money than me I am really happy.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?

I am hoping my economics and finance classes allow students to manage their own money but also help their family members manage their money. It’s kind of like the saying, “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for his lifetime.” That’s the same thing I am hoping for with my students.

FACULTY FOCUS FRIDAY ARCHIVE | Read all our professor Q&As

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Dr. Erica Lemberger, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing. Dr. Lemberger, who joined the nursing faculty in 2017, teaches in Spalding’s RN-to-BSN program and has also taught undergraduate population health courses. This past week, she took a large group of School of Nursing students to the the state Capitol in Frankfort to meet with legislators as part of Kentucky Nurses Legislative Action Day. Lemberger, a family nurse practitioner, was named a 2018 Louisville Business First Health Care Hero for excellence in patient experience during a career in which she’s worked with child abuse victims, cancer patients, homeless populations and pregnant teens.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

Spalding’s mission statement says, “We are a diverse community of learners dedicated to meeting the needs of the times in the tradition of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.” The Sisters are prayerful women who in the 1800s went out into our community to provide care for individuals who were struck by cholera. I love that here at Spalding, we have the foundation of these courageous and caring women who see beyond themselves to do great things for our community. I also really appreciate that we are a diverse community of learners. It means that each student brings their own unique story to the classroom, which enriches the learning experience.

What is your academic specialty or areas of expertise or research?

I’m celebrating my 21st year in nursing. I graduated with my BSN in 1998, with my MSN/FNP in 2001 and my DNP in 2014. I’m board-certified as a family nurse practitioner, an advanced forensic nurse, a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) of adults, adolescents and children, and as a faith community nurse. I’ve worked in a variety of areas, including in-patient oncology, domestic violence and homeless shelters, hospice, retail health, public high schools for pregnant and parenting teens, and the military.

LEARN MORE | Spalding’s online RN-to-BSN program
SCHOOL OF NURSING | Check out all the programs offered at Spalding
NURSING FACULTY | Read bios of all Spalding professors
LEADERSHIP | Educator, scholar Bro. Ignatius Perkins returns as nursing chair

Why is nursing a good option for students to consider as their major?

Nursing offers the opportunity to blend a love of science with care for individuals and communities. Our students also learn about leadership, research, health equity and how to make this world a better place for all. At Spalding, we really get to know our students, and it feels like a family. I often tell people that there are so many opportunities in nursing from the bedside to the community to health care management and everything in between. You will always have a job, many opportunities for career growth, and the blessing of helping to make a difference in people’s lives.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?

I have a calligraphy print of the Serenity prayer. It says “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” My grandmother helped to raise me, and this frame hung in her dining room growing up. She was an incredible person, and she really inspired me to do good in the world.

It’s been a full week in Frankfort with constituent mtgs, mtgs with community groups and with all kinds of lobbyists.

It was a pleasure to see my friend, Dr. Lemberger, who brought her @SpaldingU Nursing students to meet with legislators.

I ❤️ that Spalding is located in D41! pic.twitter.com/EJ6vaPtQUe

— Attica Scott (@atticascott4ky) February 6, 2020

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

It’s really wonderful when our students have “aha” moments. There are times when students are able to connect the dots, relate what they are learning to their own personal experiences, and it’s as if light bulbs illuminate and things begin to click. We often have former students return to visit after graduation – and online students who send emails. It brings me great joy to hear that what former students learned in class is actually seen in practice. It’s very rewarding to know that we are helping to plant the seeds for nurses to do good in this world.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?

Nurses can most definitely change the world. Nursing is our nation’s largest healthcare profession, with more than 3.8 million registered nurses nationwide. We are the largest component of the healthcare workforce and are the main providers of care at the bedside. For the past 18 years, Americans have rated nurses as the No. 1 most ethical and honest profession. Nursing is both a profession (it’s something you are) and an occupation (it’s something you do). As faculty, it’s an honor to provide Spalding students with information, resources and opportunities to change the world for the better.

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Shawn Hennessey, Assistant Professor of 3D Art and Studio Technician for Spalding’s Creative Arts department (BFA in Studio Art program). He teaches courses and supervises Spalding’s new Makerspace, which features a range of woodworking, metalworking, 3D printing and laser-cutting equipment. Hennessey studied sculpture as an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, and he holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from Ohio State University. Hennessey was an adjunct instructor at Spalding before joining the faculty full-time in 2019. Hennessey and his wife, Nora Christensen, run Squallis Puppeteers, a prominent nonprofit organization that builds puppets and does puppet shows across the community.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

Oh, my gosh, I love Spalding. Spalding is the school I wanted to teach at when I moved here to Louisville. The thing I liked about Spalding is that it wasn’t too big, wasn’t too small, wasn’t too exclusive, and I just always really loved the students. (As a Spalding adjunct,) I taught a lot of adult-accelerated classes, and I always had non-art majors, and they were just always great folks. I like the atmosphere here. I like the place. It didn’t take itself too seriously as a school. People were serious about learning, but it was unpretentious. The faculty has always been very friendly, and I just felt comfortable here.

What has been like to join the full-time faculty in the art department?

It’s a dream come true. It’s a job I always wanted. … (In an initial meeting with Program Director Deb Whistler), we really hit it off about some key things, primarily about the idea that art didn’t have to be about making things for galleries, or making things for rich people to buy. It could be, but it could also be about solving problems and interacting with the community and making your town or your world a little bit better place – that art has the power to do that. We both had this idea of how art functions. For me, that came from being a puppeteer for about 10 years at that point.

Spalding professor and student in the woodshop of the Spalding Makerspace — Assistant Professor Shawn Hennessey demonstrates a wood saw cut to student Sarah Thornsberry in the Spalding Makerspace.

What is your academic specialty or area of experience?

My art expertise is all over the place. Photography and print-making are the two things I haven’t done much of, but other than that, I’ve dabbled in pretty much everything. I’m totally a jack of all trades. My undergrad is in sculpture and 3D art. My grad is in painting and drawing. My graduate thesis show was mostly conceptual art; it was almost like graphic design murals. I was making weird books. Then I got more and more into conceptual art when I got out of graduate school. Because I hate going to gallery openings and things like that – it’s just not my bag – I stopped participating in the art world for a while. Then I met Nora and started doing puppet shows. The story I always tell is being on stage with My Morning Jacket in a puppet I finished that day in front of 9,000 people. I thought, “I’m spoiled now.” I really like the interactivity of puppetry. So I would say through Squallis, my focus in terms of being an artist is really on art and social practice, making art that is interactive and somewhat performative and that is collaborative. That’s where my heart lies. Academically, I’m very interested in art and music, and art and culture in general. I taught an art and music class, so a lot of what I taught wasn’t just about art-making or music-making. I would bring in television and being able to explain that “Flight of the Conchords” and Stephen Colbert are perfect ways to understand post-modernism. That would get my students’ attention. But while I was an adjunct teaching these classes, I would also be trying to make some extra money by remodeling people’s homes and building kitchens and bathrooms and getting really good at making stuff. So when this job came along – a combination of teaching two- and three-dimensional art and running a shop and studios – it was everything I’d always done. It’s working with tools, I always run the spaces at Squallis and keep them organized, and I’ve been teaching for 20 years. So it all fit together perfectly for me.

LEARN MORE | Spalding’s Creative Arts department and the BFA in Studio Art
MEET THE FACULTY | Spalding’s full slate of Creative Arts professors

What do you in your role as Studio Technician at Spalding?

Shawn Hennessey welds in the Spalding Makerspace — Hennessey uses welding tools in the Spalding Makerspace.

I’m the manager of the Makerspace and studios. I manage this MakerSpace (in Mansion East), and I keep an eyeball on all the other spaces. If they need something, or if something needs fixed or set up, I take care of it. Like we’ve been setting up lots of new equipment and making sure spaces are safe and free of hazards, and I have been working really hard at making sure we are maximizing usage of our space. We’ve also been trying to open our spaces to be more collaborative. This (Mansion East) Makerspace is now a collaborative space that any faculty or staff can come through during open hours. We’re working with occupational therapy and other departments.

Why is Creative Arts at Spalding a good option for high school students looking to study art in college?

I think what sets Spalding’s art department apart – it’s in the name. Instead of calling ourselves “Fine Arts,” we call ourselves, “Creative Arts.” I feel like that opens it up a lot. Fine arts implies that you’re doing something that is so polished, and that is fine. You can still make gallery-style art. But to say it’s “Creative Arts,” that puts a focus on the creativity and the problem-solving part. We’re interested in teaching people how to use creativity as a tool. We want to train people to utilize their own creativity and expand and hone that. Students who come in may not know what they want to do. I think that’s what’s great about this program. You don’t have to pick. You don’t have to come into this program and say, “I’m a sculptor,” or “I’m a painter, or “I’m a ceramicist.” You can say, “I’m a creative person, but I’m not sure what I want to do.” And we will teach that person and sort of mold them, and (let them find a path.) Who knows what these students will do, but we’re going to set them up to use the skills.

How do you summarize the new equipment in this Makerspace as a resource for students?

Oh, man, we are so lucky. We’ve gotten a lot of great tools. We have this great confluence of high and low tech. So have all of the low-tech tools – a drill press and a band saw – things that most wood shops have. We have all these low-tech options, people can still work with their hands. I still teach my students how to make boxes and measure with a tape-measure and things like that. We also have all these high-tech things like a laser cutter and a plasma cutter. There are all these opportunities for students to utilize their technical prowess or use a computer to make something physical. I think it’s a cool program because you can go back and forth between the two.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?

I have a puppet show in my office. You could say I have a time machine in my office. It doesn’t work. (Laughs.)

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Working with students, working with young people. But really just working with all different kinds of people – so the faculty, too. It’s no fun to be in a vacuum, especially as an artist. That was the thing I really hated about the presumed life of an artist. When you come up in the art world, you’re made to think you have to work in your studio, head down, make stuff, and that’s the life of an artist. I found that to be very miserable. I wanted to be around other people, and I wanted to make stuff with other people and help other people make stuff. When people come to me and say, “I want to make this thing,” I say, “Great, let’s talk about it! What does it have to do? How do you see it?” That’s really exciting to me.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you to change the world or helping your students to change the world?

One things I’m really proud of is I’m empowering people to use tools, particularly young women. A lot of our art students are women. When I started teaching here, very few of the young women I had in classes would go near the tools. I’ve been really trying to challenge my students: “Go use the welder.” I want to empower them to feel like that they can do it. Also, just teaching all students simple but important skills like how to use a tape measure and how to do these concrete things that will affect other areas of their life. I’m excited about that and proud of that.

READ MORE | Faculty Focus Friday archives

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Dr. Amy Young, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Training in the School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Young, who earned a PsyD in Counseling Psychology from Carlow University in Pittsburgh, is a member of the American Psychological Association and Kentucky Psychological Association.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

I get to help with training the next generation of psychologists, which is something I never thought I would be doing as a student. I never saw myself as being an educator, which is a wonderful surprise and is just as rewarding as having a practice.

What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise or research?

I am a clinical psychologist, so my area of area expertise is around mental health and abnormal psychology. I had a forensic internship experience at a men’s prison with the department of corrections. My specialty has been addictions, so I deal a lot with substance abuse treatment, homelessless and individuals who end up incarcerated due to their mental illness. Today in my private practice I still focus on addiction work, but I also do a lot of couples counseling (as well as counseling of) families in crisis, and families who struggle with infertility. In Louisville there are not a lot of resources for individuals who have miscarriages or in the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg donation or surrogacy. The Food and Drug Administration now requires mental health screenings, and there are not a lot of psychologists who are willing to do that and certainly not for an affordable price. For about three years now, I have been doing those screenings, which is again not what I thought I would be doing, but because of the needs of the community and the women in need, I wanted to do it. Getting to help all of these people have families has been very rewarding.

LEARN MORE | Bachelor of Arts in Psychology program
LEARN MORE | Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD) program
LEARN MORE | School of Professional Psychology faculty bios

Why is psychology a good option for new students to consider as their major?

I think psychology gives you a good background for lots of different things. Certainly if you want to be a therapist and want to do counseling or work with folks in crisis, obviously a psychology degree is for you and can give you great preparation for that. I also really feel like if people want to do work in business, sales, marketing, human resources and all of those jobs that require you to have people skills, I feel like psychology is a good place to start your education. We have lots of students that end up going to graduate programs, but their psychology degree has set them up to understand human behavior and help them be a leader in their career. All of that knowledge can be applied to so many different aspects of your life and will just make you a happier person.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?

Everything in my office has meaning to me, and I love interior design, so when I decorated my space I tried to bring in things that make me feel inspired and connected. When people come to my office the things people usually notice first are the women in my office. A picture of my great-grandmother is hanging up on my wall, and she was incredibly lucky because she was able to go to school during a time when only men went to school. My great-great-grandfather made her promise that her children would all go to school and receive an education. So her daughter, who is my grandmother, became the first woman in her county to graduate from high school and receive a diploma. Of course, when I was growing up with her, she told me how important it is to have an education and if you have degrees and skills, you are able to be self-sufficient and you do not have to rely on others. So I think this was a strong legacy of women who believed in education and that it is a way to be self-empowered and fulfilled. When I see that picture I feel like they got me started on a good path, and I would not be the person I am today if I didn’t have that legacy about women and education. That portrait makes me smile, and I feel like they would be proud and would love Spalding and Mother Catherine.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I had my babies last year, so this past Commencement season was the first time I had ever seen graduation from a parent’s perspective. It was really rewarding to watch the ceremony and the recognition of completing their degree. We have a specific hooding ceremony for the doctorate and master’s student, but it was the first time I had seen it through the lens of the parents. I watched students look for their families and giving their parents hugs afterwards and seeing grandparents crying, and it was so rewarding. It reminded me of all the people in the students’ lives that helped them get to graduation day. As professors we see students in our world, but it reminded me of all the people that love that student. Being a parent, it made it really rewarding because parents are trusting us with their children.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?

Helping people to see all the ways people are struggling helps them to be better in the world. So if you see someone who has an anger problem, it is probably because that person is in pain. If you see someone that is acting more hostile, or someone who is discriminating against others, it’s because that person is suffering and isn’t thoughtful. Helping students understand that when you see people in distress it is because of a whole bunch of complicated factors. People are not good or bad, but some combination of the two, so the more students get that and understand human behavior, it makes them more thoughtful and compassionate as they go out to change the world.

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Dr. Deonte Hollowell, Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies within the School of Liberal Studies. Dr. Hollowell, who received his PhD in African American Studies from Temple University and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Pan African Studies from the University of Louisville, was instrumental in the creation of a minor in African American Studies at Spalding two years ago, and he is a co-faculty advisor for Spalding’s Black Student Alliance. This past week, he helped organize Spalding’s second annual Elmer Lucille Allen Conference on African American Studies. Hollowell is also on the Board of Directors for 2Not1, an organization that supports fathers and families, as well as The West Louisville Math and Science Project. He works with the Pivot to Peace group, extending resources to victims of violence. Dr. Hollowell also serves as the Lead facilitator for the Rites of Passage Brotherhood, which introduces young boys to conflict resolution tactics and traditional African method of being.

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?

I like the fact that at Spalding, we understand that we are still growing and constantly working to better ourselves for the sake of our students.

What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise or research?

My current area of research is in the relationship between African American communities and police. I also have an interest in the study of the African American experience, post-Great Migrations (early 1900s).

Why is the School of Liberal Studies a good option for new students to consider as their major?

Students who come through the School of Liberal Studies are able to choose a major, minor and/or concentration. This gives students an opportunity to explore various options and also engineer their own academic experience. Our students are able to utilize disciplines such as African American Studies, Anthropology, English, Fine Arts, History and Religious Studies to not only develop a greater understanding of the world, but to facilitate change where it’s needed.

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?

The brief backstory is that when Dr. Merle Bachman retired, I asked to move into her office in the Liberal Studies department in the Mansion Complex because it was larger than the one I was in and she also had one of those standing desks. (I thought the desk might be included if I got the office.) I got the office – without the desk. But I love it. I keep a space heater in there year-round because I am very cold-natured. I also have a mini-fridge, lots of snacks and a library that will soon be available for students to check out books.

LEARN MORE | SCHOOL OF LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAMS
LEARN MORE | SCHOOL OF LIBERAL STUDIES FACULTY BIOS

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most fulfillment that I get from being a professor at Spalding is the opportunity to work with individuals (students, faculty and staff) who value the work that I do in African American Studies and are willing to help advance it.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?

My role as Co-Faculty Advisor for the Black Student Alliance is my way of paying it forward, or giving back, so to speak. Also, being in the School of Liberal Studies is great because the Department values community service.

FACULTY FOCUS FRIDAY ARCHIVE | MEET OTHER SPALDING PROFESSORS

Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. Today’s featured faculty member is Sabrina Pletz, Assistant Professor in Spalding’s Master of Science in Athletic Training program as well as the assistant athletic trainer for Spalding’s NCAA Division III athletic department. Professor Pletz earned a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in athletic training from Cumberland College and master’s in exercise science from Fort Hays State University. She previously served as an instructor and assistant athletic trainer at the University of Charleston (W.Va.) and the clinical education coordinator for the athletic training program at St. Catharine College. (Read full bios of Spalding’s MSAT faculty.)

What do you like about working and teaching at Spalding?
I like the fact that I get to do what I teach. While I teach in the MSAT program, I am able to provide athletic training services for Spalding Athletics. Spalding is a diverse campus. I love seeing students from all walks of life and different ethnic and geographical backgrounds. I’ve seen a trend of first-generation college students at Spalding as well. This is a place they can call home and be welcomed with open and helpful arms.

What is your academic specialty or areas of expertise or research?
My academic specialty is in athletic training. It is such a rewarding privilege to be able to educate and influence future professional athletic trainers. I am currently a first-year doctoral student at Spalding in the Doctor of Education: Leadership program.

LEARN MORE | Athletic Training master’s program and undergraduate tracks to enter it
REGISTER | Student athletic training/sports medicine workshop on July 22
SUPPORT THE EAGLES | Spalding Athletics’ official site

Why is athletic training a good option for students to consider for their academic studies and future profession?
Athletic training is one of the most exciting and rewarding professions. A good number of our students are former athletes or other highly active individuals who like to be around athletics and sporting events. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association website nata.org describes the profession well: “Athletic trainers (ATs) are highly qualified, multiskilled health care professionals who render service or treatment, under the direction of or in collaboration with a physician, in accordance with their education, training and the state’s statutes, rules and regulations. As a part of the healthcare team, services provided by athletic trainers include primary care, injury and illness prevention, wellness promotion and education, emergent care, examination and clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.”

What is an interesting thing that you keep in your office?
I have a skeleton of an arm. I teach Evaluation of the Upper Extremity, and I use it in class. People usually give it a double take when they walk into my office.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Seeing our students finally have that light-bulb moment and connect what they learned in the classroom to their practical fieldwork.

At Spalding, we like to say, “Today is a great day to change the world.” How do you think your role at Spalding is helping you change the world or the world of your students?
There’s the phrase, “Practice what you preach.” The version of it for me is, “Practice what you teach.” I stand in front of my class and teach technical, ethical and leadership skills. Staying true to myself and my students, I strive to be a positive role model for practicing our profession the way it was designed to be practiced. Another way I feel I have made and hope to continue to make an impact is seeing a need and jumping in with both feet to address it. One example is the creation of our student health clinic, Eagle Care. (Retired graduate nursing faculty leader) Dr. (Pam) King, (MSAT Program Director) Dr. (John) Nyland and I saw a need for health care access for our students, and we worked tirelessly to bring this necessity to fruition. This clinic has really come a long way over the past three years. We now have a part-time Nurse Practitioner and MSAT and nursing students who rotate through the clinic.

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