Thursday, August 15th
The Graduate School's New Student Orientation
Monday, August 19th
SSLS New Student Orientation and Welcome Dinner
Tuesday, August 20th-Thursday, August 22nd
8/20-21 @ Lakeview Hall
8/22 @ Miller Hall G025
Monday, August 26th
First day of classes
Cathleen Smith Snyder, Ph.D.
Postsecondary Analysis and Leadership Concentration
Dissertation Title: Failure to Launch?: Advancing the Case for Financial Literacy Interventions in Postsecondary Education
Dissertation Committee:
Benjamin S. Selznick, Ph.D. (chair) Strategic Leadership
Karen A. Ford, DSW Strategic Leadership
Jeanne Horst, Ph.D. Graduate Psychology, JMU
Paige Bridges
Ms. Paige Bridges will be joining the Postsecondary Analysis and Leadership concentration this fall. She comes to SSLS with a Master of Arts in Digital Communication from John Hopkins University and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Georgetown University. Currently, she serves the University of Virginia Curry School of Education and Human Development as the Director of Communications and Marketing. Prior to joining UVA, Paige served 2U as the Director of Brand Marketing. Her research interests include:
- Disruptive Innovation in Higher Education
- Career Development for the 21st Century
- Educational Communications & Technology
- Digital Fluency
Marcus Hubbard
Mr. Marcus Hubbard will be joining the Organizational Science and Leadership concentration this fall. Mr. Hubbard has over 10 years of experience working in secondary and higher education, including both community college and 4-year institutional settings. Mr. Hubbard comes to SSLS with an undergraduate degree in Psychology from JMU and an M.Ed from the University of Maryland, College Park. His research interests include:
- The impact customers/clients have on an organization's culture.
- The impact of professional development and training programs on workplace productivity.
- The impact of individual and collective personal development at various levels of leadership on the productivity of organizations.
Maureen Malomba
Ms. Maureen Malomba will be joining the Nonprofit and Community Leadership concentration this fall. Ms. Malomba comes to us with an MBA in Strategic Management from the United States
The International University of Africa and an undergraduate degree in Community Development from
Daystar University. With vast experience in both administration and community work, Maureen has always aligned her practice with organizations that consult in areas of community empowerment. These
experiences have informed her interest in researching capacity building using indigenous skills and
appropriate technology to achieve sustainable development. Other research interests include:
- Accountability frameworks in the nonprofit space
- Social entrepreneurship
- Evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations
Tatjana Titareva
Ms. Tatjana Titareva will be joining the Organizational Science and Leadership Concentration this fall. Ms. Titareva is an international project/business development manager with over 12 years of experience in the educational, private and non-governmental sectors in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Currently, she is an External Expert in international projects, a Consultant for business start-ups and a
Lecturer in topics related to sales & marketing, project management, cross-cultural communication, and public speaking. Ms. Titareva holds a Bachelor's degree is in business administration and a Master's of
Public Administration. Her research interests include:
- female leadership
- cross-cultural leadership
- leadership in global education
SSLS celebrated its 10 year anniversary on Saturday, May 18, 2019! It was absolutely wonderful to convene with students, alumni, faculty, and JMU leadership to celebrate 10 years of excellence in doctoral leadership education! SSLS would also like to extend a very special thank you to our special guests for the evening:
Dr. Michael Busing and President Alger for their remarks and congratulations on 10 years of success and growth.
Dr. T. Dary Erwin for his moving speech, and for being an integral part of bringing not just the School of Strategic Leadership Studies to JMU, but for his work on making doctoral education possible here at JMU.
Dr. Stephen Lambert and Dr. Margaret Sloan for their collaborative and creative efforts for the 10th Anniversary Donor campaign.
We would also like to again recognize those who contributed to our 10th Anniversary Campaign, and our 2019 Donors:
Dr. Mary Addie Gowan & Dr. Edgar Moore
Dr. Donald “Greg” Harris & Mrs. Leslie S. Harris
Mr. Rich A. Harris, III & Dr. Karen A. Ford
Mr. Jim Krauss & Ms. Victoria Ann Krauss
Dr. Stephen W. Lambert & Mrs. Jacqueline T. Lambert
Ms. Wendy Young Lushbaugh
Dr. Kevin Michael Meaney
Ms. Maureen Metcalf
Dr. Samuel Vance Nickels & Ms. Cynthia A. Hunter
Dr. Lori K. Pyle
Dr. Benjamin Scott Selznick
Dr. Margaret F. Sloan
Ms. Whitney Tate
Dr. David J. Urso & Ms. Carrie Tagye Urso
Dr. Sung Il "Calvin" Chung
Dr. Dara Michelle Hall & Dr. Michael D. Hall
Dr. Abbott Wiliam Keesee
Dr. Nicholas L. Langridge & Mrs. Jill R. Langridge
Your contributions are already making a difference here at SSLS! This summer, SSLS will be able to fund student and faculty research collaborations and student travel to academic conferences with your generous support! Thank you SSLS donors!
Inspire and support the next generation of Strategic Leaders
A gift to SSLS could provide opportunities for students to:
- Take summer classes
- Present their research at academic conferences
- Gather data for research projects and dissertations
- Connect with students at other institutions
- Engage in cross-disciplinary leadership projects
- Participate in global externships
Dave Urso, Ph.D.
Dean of Academic Affairs, Blue Ridge Community College
Eddie Bitzer, Ph.D.
Hilda Gay Legg
State Director, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development for Kentucky
Joanna Ruth Marsland
Director of Development, University of North Carolina Press
Maureen Metcalf
CEO/Board Chair, Innovative Leadership Institute
Doug Reynolds, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Innovations and Technology, DDI Consulting
Drew Stelljes, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President
Faculty in Residence, W&M Washington Center
William & Mary
Alumni Board Members
Lori Pyle, Ph.D. (2013)
Kevin Meaney, Ph.D. (2015)
Kathleen Johnson, Ph.D. (2022)
Jim Krauss, Ph.D. (2022)
Student Board Members
Maureen Malomba
Will Brown
Jennifer Powers
Donald "Greg" Harris, Ph.D.
Dr. Greg Harris was the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the JMU Graduate School! His dissertation is entitled Perceived Principal Servant Leadership and Teacher Stress, and Dr. Ben Selznick served as chair on his committee.
Dr. Harris was also recently appointed as Principal of Westwood Hills Elementary School in Waynesboro, Virginia! Congratulations on such a successful year, Dr. Harris!
Dara M. Hall, Ph.D.
Dr. Dara Hall was awarded a Dolley Leadership Award in April, receiving the Bluestone Award for Outstanding Advising in April. Congratulations, Dr. Hall!
In addition to serving as Interim Director of the JMU Education Support Center, Dr. Hall is effectively leading and creating positive change through various grants, research collaborations, and presentations on campus and across the state of Virginia!
This spring Dr. Hall co-lead a series of three talks for JMU students called Interfaith Encounters as co-Primary Investigator (with colleague Vesna Hart of the Center for Global Engagement and Israa Alhassani in Foreign Languages) for an Innovative Diversity Efforts Award (I.D.E.A.) entitled Interfaith Engagement of JMU Students in Our Community, funded through 6/30/19. This work will conclude with an Interfaith Peace Camp for children ages 8-12 to be held in Memorial Hall.
Currently, Dr. Hall is working on the Virginia Clinical Faculty/New Teacher Mentor Best Practices (VBPN) Network 2018-19 Clinical Faculty Grant with colleagues in colleges and universities across the state. Her role in this effort is to lead the development of a guidelines/framework to develop clinical faculty mentors who are diverse, culturally and linguistically competent.
Dr. Hall has been serving on the Virginia Advisory Committee for the Education of the Gifted (VACEG) for the past three years. Dr. Hall and her colleague Donna Poland at the Virginia Department of Education have begun presenting their findings to teacher educators across the state.
Hall, D. M. & Poland, D. L. (2019). Increasing Diversity in Gifted Education Programs in Virginia at the Spring 2019 VACTE/ATE-VA Conference: One Voice for Teacher Education in Richmond, VA.
Lisa Hamlett Akers, Ph.D.
A condensed version of Dr. Akers' dissertation entitled Organizational Factors Associated With Quality Perinatal Care was published in The Health Care Manager!
Akers, L.H., Thompson, J.M., Sloan, M.F., Ford, K.A. (2019) Organizational Factors Associated With Quality Perinatal Care. The Health Care Manager 38(1): 61-70. doi: 10.1097/HCM.0000000000000241.
Calvin Chung, Ph.D.
Dr. Chung's paper entitled Preferences for Human Resource Practices in South Korean and U.S. Based Nonprofits was accepted for presentation at the 2019 Academy of Mangement annual meeting, coming up in August! AOM will be held in Boston, MA this year.
Chung, S. (2019, August). Preferences for Human Resource Practices in South Korean and U.S. Based Nonprofits. Accepted for presentation at 2019 Academy of Management, Boston, MA.
Christopher J. Rehm, Ph.D.
Dr. Rehm's and Dr. Selzick's collaborative article Measuring Leader Self-Efficacy Among Youth was published in the Journal of Youth Leadership Education!
Rehm, C.J. & Selznick, B.S. (2019) Measuring Leader Self-Efficacy Among Youth. Journal of Leadership Education 18(2). doi: 10.12806/V18/I2/R4.
Abbott Keesee, Ph.D.
Dr. Abbott Keesee was recently appointed as Principal of Lylburn Downing Middle School in Lexington City! Congratulations, Dr. Keesee!
Paul Morgan, Ph.D.
We are so proud of the work Dr. Morgan is doing as the Director of the University of Utah Veterans Support Center!
Currently, Dr. Morgan is leading the Strategy working group for the Veterans Higher Education Collaborative. The Collaborative is a working group comprised of the Department of Defense and 28 select postsecondary institutions that are working together to improve student veterans' transition to and through higher education. The Collaborative will be sharing research, knowledge, and best practices related to supporting military-connect students in higher education. As the Strategy lead, Dr. Morgan is shaping the specific goals of the Collaborative and the approach to achieving those goals.
On April 5, he was a panelist at the Utah System of Higher Education conference on “Destigmatizing the Adult Learner as the new Post-Traditional Student” in Provo, UT. The panel was titled “Helping Adult Learners in Transition.”
Working with the university’s Union, the Veterans Support Center was able to raise and award $20,000 in scholarships to student veterans for fall 2019, which is more scholarship money that the center has awarded since its establishment in 2011.
Dr. Morgan is even branching out into the performing arts! On February 2, Dr. Morgan participated in a chorus as part of Utah “Wild Up: We the People,” which is an experimental classical ensemble whose projects are meant to bring people together. The group works with students and community members to create an original performance involving songs about change and activism. Dr. Morgan accepted the invitation to perform to counter existing veteran stereotypes. Dr. Morgan commented, "Their approach to music is unusual and my talent is marginal but the results were remarkable." We are positive you rocked the performance just as hard as your dissertation, Dr. Morgan, and we wish we could have been there to witness your stage debut!
SSLS Alumni Interview
Sam Nickels, Ph.D.
In addition to his full-time work as Executive Director of Our Community Place in Harrisonburg, Dr. Sam Nickels has been consulting for the last two years on asylum cases of persons with mental illness who the U.S. government is trying to deport to their country of origin, El Salvador. SSLS Admissions Coordinator and First Year Advisor Brooke Rhodes asked Sam a few questions to learn more about his consulting work.
Brooke: Sam, what is your consulting work about?
Sam: I provide a written declaration or affidavit regarding the likely affect on someone with mental illness if they are deported to El Salvador. For example, if a man with psychosis is being held in detention by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, and the person is incompetent, the government must provide a lawyer to help them through the removal proceedings. Lawyers often enter pleas for asylum based on asylum law or convention against torture law to prevent the person from being deported. Basically I testify in these legal cases as a "country conditions expert."
Brooke: What is your roll in these cases?
Sam: If someone with a severe mental illness were deported to El Salvador, for a variety of reasons they might not be able to see a psychiatrist, or obtain a stable supply of medications, or because they are vulnerable they might be used by gangs to carry out criminal activity, or they might have interactions with police or gang members that lead to verbal and physical abuse, and sometime be killed. The estimates of likelihood are based on my research over the years with colleagues in El Salvador, interviews with many people with mental illness and their caregivers, my tours of the psychiatric hospital there, and reading I do. The saddest cases are those of people who are very incompetent due to intellectual or psychosocial disability, who are doing well in the U.S., all their family is in the U.S. now including their mother and siblings who care for them, they have not been back to El Salvador since they were a child 20 or 30 years ago, they have no family left there to care for them, and yet our government is trying to deport them. It is unethical, inappropriate, unjust, and completely insensitive. However, we have to prove this to the immigration judge in ways that meet specific criteria of asylum or torture laws.
Brooke: How did this all start for you?
Sam: After I completed my PhD at SSLS, and published my dissertation on a mental health program in El Salvador, I also published some of the additional data in a World Health Organization peer reviewed journal. That began to catch the eye of lawyers around the country who were looking for someone with knowledge of the mental health conditions in El Salvador, who had credentials (like a PhD), who spoke and wrote English, and who was willing to testify in these cases. It appears there are very few of us in the world who meet those criteria. I've now done 35 cases from LA and San Diego to Seattle, Florence AZ, Denver, Atlanta, New York, Arlington and Washington DC, and Chicago. I don't travel, it's all by email, although I testify by phone with the lawyers and an immigration judge. Those testimonies sometimes go on for 1 to 2 hours, with the government lawyer grilling me for any holes he or she can find. Sometimes it gets brutal.
Brooke: Why do you do it?
Sam: Once after a case was over, the lawyer wrote me to say her client won the case, he was approved for asylum, and he walked out free after being in an ICE jail for a year. She also said "You saved a life." I think it's true. If these folks were returned to El Salvador, many of them would flounder, become homeless, become victims of gangs, suffer incredible discrimination and abuse. Some would be killed, others would die an early death due to psychiatric and health deterioration and the abuses they suffer. I would not have been able to do this work without the SSLS program training and degree. In a sense, you all have been helping to save lives too.
Hey SSLS Alumni!
Do you have an interesting research or consulting project that you would like to share with SSLS to be featured in our next newsletter? Perhaps you would like to talk about how SSLS has contributed to your success in your current role or you would like to give some advice to our current SSLS students that you wish you would have known during your Ph.D. If you would like to be interviewed for our fall 2019 newsletter, let Brooke know! E-mail rhodesbm@jmu.edu.
Promotions and Career Advancement
Elizabeth Narehood
In March, Elizabeth Narehood accepted a new position as Title III Project Director at Central Virginia Community College! Congratulations, Elizabeth!
Kyle McCarrell
Kyle McCarrell recently accepted a new position as Executive Director of the Library at McHenry County College. Congratulations, Kyle!
Conferences Acceptances and Presentations
Sevinj Iskandarova
In March, Sevinj Iskandarova presented two papers with collaborators from JMU ISAT, College of Education, and the College of Business at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education in Las Vegas, NV! Both papers were also published in the conference proceedings available at https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/j/SITE/v/2019/n/1/.
Iskandarova, S., El-Tawab, S., Griffin, O., & Moussa F. (2019, March). Developing a Unique Educational Experience for Children Museum using a Mobile Application. Paper presentation at Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) 2019 Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Salib, E., Iskandarova, S., & El-Tawab, S. (2019, March). Effect of Different Instructor(s) on CAMPing. Paper presentation at Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) 2019 Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Sevinj's travel to SITE 2019 was partially supported by an SSLS Travel Grant ($500).
Sevinj and Dr. Ford also had a paper accepted for presentation at the NACC conference in London, England!
*Iskandarova, S. & Ford, K.A. (2019, July). Creating scholar-leaders: A case for experiential-learning at the PhD level. Paper accepted for presentation at Nonprofit Academic Centers Council 2019 Biennial Conference, London, England.
Kyle McCarrell
Kyle McCarrell recently presented a co-authored paper at the AIR Conference in Denver, CO!
Matveev, A., Cuevas N., & McCarrell, K. (2019, May). Credentialing: A Study of Non-Credit to Credit Conversion Activities. Paper presentation at 2019 Association for Institutional Research Forum, Denver, CO.
Kyle was also awarded a National TGS Travel Grant ($500) and a SSLS Travel Grant ($500) for this presentation.
Scholarly Service
Theresa Reimbold
Theresa Reimbold served as a reviewer for two articles in Nonprofit Management & Leadership (NML) journal in fall 2018. Renowned as one of the top nonprofit leadership journals, NML is the first journal to bring together the best thinking and most advanced knowledge about the special needs, challenges, and opportunities of nonprofit organizations.
Dr. Ben Selznick
Conference Presentations
In April, Dr. Selznick presented two papers at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2019 Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada! Dr. Selznick was lead author on both papers which were titled Creating the Innovative Canadian University: An Embedded Case Study Approach and Developing Appreciative Attitudes Toward Jews: A Multi-Campus Investigation. Dr. Selznick also served as a discussant for the session What are the Beneficial Effects of Mobiles Devices on Higher Education Learning? A Meta-Analysis.
Publications
Selznick, B. S. (2019). Minding the expertise gap. JMU Center for Faculty Innovation Teaching Toolbox.
Selznick, B. S. (2019). Supporting interfaith climates and outcomes: Considerations and practices for student affairs educators. In M. Baxter Magolda, P. Magolda, & R. Carducci (Eds.), Contested issues in student affairs: Dialogues about equity, civility, and safety (pp. 252-260). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Dr. Margaret Sloan
Conference Acceptances
*Dr. Sloan's and Dr. Cleopatra Charles' (Rutgers University) paper Willingness to Donate II: Are membership dues a substitute for donations? What factors influenced your giving decision?" was accepted for presentation at The European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP) 2019 conference at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
University Service
As part of Outreach and Engagement's Nonprofit Institute (NPI), Dr. Sloan served as a day leader for Nonprofit Finance Day in January. Dr. Sloan and Dr. Ford also presented on the closing day of NPI in April.
Dr. Adam Vanhove
Dr. Vanhove served as a peer-reviewer for grant proposals to the Health Research Council of New Zealand’s WorkSafe RFP [NZ$ 1.6million] for Effective Interventions for Reducing Work-related Psychosocial Risk in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.
Dr. Karen Ford
Dr. Ford will be attending two conferences over the summer! In June, Dr. Ford will be traveling to Kosovo with other JMU colleagues to visit Kosovar institutions of higher education. She will also be presenting Change Leadership: Process & Journey as part of the Kosovo Leadership Forum. In July, Dr. Ford will be attending the 101st Annual Leadership Forum at Silver Bay in Lake George, New York.
*denotes presenter was unable to attend conference
Faculty Collaborations
Dr. Adam Vanhove & Dr. Ben Selznick continue their work on creating online learning modules for multivariate statistics that will supplement lectures and teaching of course content- such materials that do not yet exist. This effort is supported by a 4-VA grant ($13,000 total).
In April, Dr. Ford & Dr. Sloan delivered the “Leading Boldly” workshop as part of Outreach & Engagement’s Nonprofit Institute Nonprofit Management Certificate program. The workshop included sessions on goal setting and a leadership strengths assessment.
Faculty and Student Collaborations
Dr. Sloan's and SSLS students Theresa Lind's and Morgan Veyna's collaborative paper was accepted for presentation at ARNOVA 2019 which will be held in San Diego, CA this coming November.
Sloan, M.F., Veyna, M., & Lind, T., (2019, November). Internal Determinants of Graduate Program Giving. Paper accepted for presentation at Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action’s 48th Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.
Dr. Selznick (P.I.) & Nick Swayne (collaborator) were awarded a Provost Faculty Diversity grant ($2,000 total) to research relationships between participation in a JMU X-Labs course and students’ innovation capacities. The study will specifically explore the experiences of students who have been historically minoritized and marginalized in conversations connected to innovation.
This summer, Dr. Vanhove and Brooke Z. Graham are working on a meta-analysis research project examining gender and racial discrimination in assessment center simulations.
ABD!!!
Nonprofit and Community Leadership
- Theresa Reimbold
- Geary Cox, II
- Kathleen Johnson
Postsecondary Analysis and Leadership
- Natasha DuMerville
- Jonathan Stewart
- Lindsay King
- Wendy Lushbaugh
- Nick Swayne
- Matt Lovesky
- Kyle McCarrell
- Zach Yoder
- Melissa Altman
Organizational Science and Leadership
- Andy Miller
- Alyse Lehrke
- Ahmet Shala
- Kristin Sowden
- Adam Lindberg
- Tiffany Brutus
LEAD 891 Externship Organization Sites
Melissa Altman
Blue Ridge Community College
Michael Speight
Shenandoah Community Foundation
Kathleen Johnson
People Places
Sevinj Iskandarova
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
Jalal Maqableh
Harrisonburg City
Summer 2019 Course Offerings
LEAD 710 Advocacy for Change Leadership, Dr. Ford
LEAD 754 Strategic Leadership Decision Making, Dr. Vanhove
LEAD 763 Philanthropy and Resource Development, Dr. Sloan
LEAD 790 Postsecondary Dynamics, Dr. Selznick
LEAD 890 Advance Leadership Dynamics, Dr. Ford
LEAD 891 Externship, Dr. Ford
LEAD 900 Dissertation, Ford, Selznick, Sloan, and Vanhove
Fall 2019 Course Offerings
LEAD 700 Introduction to Leadership Studies and Ethics, Dr. Sloan
LEAD 703 Multivariate Statistics, Dr. Vanhove
LEAD 705 Advanced Research Methods in Leadership Studies, Dr. Sloan
LEAD 711 Effective College Teaching, Dr. Ford
LEAD 740 Foundations of Postsecondary Education, Dr. Selznick
LEAD 900 Dissertation
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