Dr. Adams has become the nation’s preeminent authority on the application of the corequisite model of academic support in the instruction of college-level English through his Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). The model, which is available to the vast majority of students placed into developmental English at his campus, has seen dramatic increases in the completion of gateway English courses among developmental students. Significantly, these increases have occurred in half the time of traditional remediation. The ALP model framework is becoming a cornerstone of several state and system level reforms in states like Colorado, Michigan and Connecticut. ALP has become a national model and is now implemented at institutions across the country.
Archives
Geri Anderson
In the role of Chief Academic and Student Affairs Officer, Geri Anderson provided leadership for all community college academic and student affairs policy review and development.
Geri spearheaded the Colorado Community College System’s remedial education reform initiative and guided significant policy changes through the system board, resulting in dramatic changes to the delivery of remedial education across the entire system. She convened a task force of remedial education leaders from across the system and guided a change process that resulted in broad support from faculty, administration and ultimately the system board. The new system-level policy ensures all CCCS students have the opportunity to pass gateway courses and enter programs of study in their first academic year. As a result, the system is experiencing dramatic improvements in gateway course success rates, particularly in English.
Rob Anderson
Rob works with all 31 USG institutions on initiatives designed to increase college access and support student success. He oversees a wide range of key initiatives including Complete College Georgia, teacher educator preparation programs, and the USG STEM initiative. Formerly, Anderson was the Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration for the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. While in West Virginia, Anderson acquired and managed several grants totaling more than $20 million and funded by organizations including the Lumina Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, CCA, as well as a federal GEAR UP grant. Each of these grants has been targeted at improving college access and completion. As a native of Augusta, Georgia, Anderson holds degrees from The Citadel (B.A.) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.).
Tristan Denley
Before moving to the system office in August 2013, Mr. Denley was Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Austin Peay State University. Originally from Penzance, England, Denley earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Trinity College Cambridge.. At Austin Peay, he created Degree Compass, a course recommendation and pairing system. This system won a platinum IMS Global Learning Impact Award in 2014 and has received recognition from CCA, Educause, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and President Obama. Denley spearheaded the full-scale implementation of corequisite academic support for virtually all Tennessee Board of Regents’ institutions. The scaling of corequisite support was completed after careful analysis of system-level data, ensuring gateway course success of all students.
Gwenn Eldridge
Gwenn is president of the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE). She also serves as department chair for university transfer at Ivy Tech Community College. Her primary teaching focus is on integrated reading writing and co-requisite course design. She was part of a team that developed Ivy Tech’s integrated reading writing course and offers professional development sessions to faculty members across the state of Indiana. Eldridge earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Indiana University and a master’s in English from Butler University. She also completed coursework toward a doctoral degree in rhetoric and composition at Ball State University. She recently completed the Advance Kellogg Institute on Developmental Education at the National Center for Developmental Education at Appalachian State University.
Katie Hern
Katie Hern serves as Director of the California Acceleration Project and provides coaching to participating English faculty. She has been teaching students to read, write, and think critically for 20 years. An instructor at Chabot College, Hern has been deeply influenced by the Chabot English department’s philosophy of integrating reading and writing and providing developmental students the same kinds of challenging tasks they will see in college-level courses, in an environment of greater scaffolding and support. Her classroom inquiry into the“Academic Sustainability Gap” sheds light on the issues teachers need to address in an accelerated classroom. Hern’s past roles include serving as Co-Director of the California-wide Faculty Inquiry Network and Dean of Academic Affairs at John F. Kennedy University.
Rob Jeffs
Dr. Rob Jeffs is currently teaching corequisite and technical courses at Ivy Tech Community College’s Muncie Campus.
Rob is the faculty lead for the Applied Technical Pathway guiding the development of content, pedagogy, and training of 38 instructors teaching over 60 sections to over 1,000 students statewide. He co-chaired the college’s Math Task Force, which aligned the math needs of academic programs into a more focused three-lane approach.
Saundra King
Saundra King serves as Assistant Vice President of Remediation and Innovation at Ivy Tech. She has led the remedial redesign effort, which includes the state-wide scale of co-requisite, custom assessment, and reform of math pathways. King has over 25 years of higher education experience which has included assessment, advising, and curriculum development. Prior to Ivy Tech, she was the Director of Developmental Studies at Chattanooga State Community College, and served on the Tennessee Board of Regents Developmental Studies Redesign Task Force.
Michael McComas
Michael McComas is a former C&O railroad engineer who, at the age of 35, went back to school to become a teacher. Prior to joining the faculty of Mountwest, McComas taught mathematics for eight years in Cabell County Schools and Huntington St. Joseph Catholic High School. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Chair of Liberal Arts within the General Studies Division.
McComas’ work passions are developmental education, student success, using technology to support teaching and learning, and improving online teaching at MCTC. McComas teaches both developmental and college-level mathematics, As Chair of Liberal Arts, he has responsibility for the subject areas of Mathematics, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics, English, and communications. Additionally, he over sees several programs, including Biomedical Technology, Electronics Technology, Engineering Technology, and Machines Technology
Chip McLain
Chip is an Associate Professor and English Department Head at Walters State Community College in Morristown, TN, where he teaches learning support writing, freshman composition, American literature, and folklore. He has a B.A. and an M.A. in English from Tennessee Technological University. His recent academic focus has been developing a successful co-requisite remediation strategy for Walters State’s writing program. A former president of the Tennessee Association for Developmental Education, McLain’s passion is improving the skills of struggling writers to ensure their success in college.