Dr. Meridith A. Balas is a Service Assistant Professor and Director of the Nemacolin Hospitality Lab at West Virginia University, where she brings extensive expertise in hospitality management, tourism, and student-centered experiential learning. In her role, she leads innovative consulting projects with partners like Nemacolin, offering students hands-on experience in solving real-world industry challenges. Her career spans …
Tag: Self-care
Building Community in the New School Year
Suzanne Caines has been teaching high school English in public school settings in New Jersey for thirty-four years. She grew up on the West Coast, graduated from the University of Oregon, and later earned a master’s degree at Montclair State University, where she wrote her graduate thesis on using mindfulness and meditation to improve learning conditions …
Lessons Learned in a Pandemic—Supporting Students Who Are in Distress while You’re Teaching Remotely
Colleges across the nation have put a significant amount of effort into helping students be more resilient. This effort, as well as need, has only grown since COVID-19 struck. How can faculty support their students’ well-being and resilience while teaching remotely? Dina Radeljas is an associate professor of sociology at Mohawk Valley Community College, in …
Setting Up First-Generation Students for Success
As I’ve observed my students over the years, I’ve often thought of the privilege masked as cultural knowledge—what my sociologist colleagues would call cultural capital—as something that some students have and others don’t. But does that theory hold water when we take a closer look? And what assumptions did I have to unlearn as I tried to better serve my students?
Teaching (and Learning) When We’re Tired
Susan Barber teaches AP® English Literature at Midtown High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and serves as the College Board Advisor for AP® Literature and on the NCTE Secondary Steering Committee. She, however, is most proud of the work she does on a daily basis in E216 and never tires of the beauty and chaos of …
Personal and Professional Reading: Making Time for What We Love Most
Jim Burke, an English teacher at Middle College at the College of San Mateo, has been teaching for more than twenty-five years, and has written more than twenty-five books about teaching and literacy. He has received numerous awards, including the Exemplary Leadership Award from the National Council of Teachers of English and the Distinguished Service …
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Feeling Out of Balance? Tips for Fostering Better Work-Life Balance for College Faculty
As faculty members, we take on a variety of roles and tasks. We work to prepare quality learning objectives and course materials that are relevant to our students. Those in the tenure-track lines are expected to keep an active research and publishing agenda. Many of us also serve on multiple time-consuming committees and, outside of academia, we often have personal and household responsibilities, such as caring for children or elderly parents.
Being Human: Lessons and Reminders during a Global Pandemic
Dr. Michael Ramirez is an associate professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He teaches courses on gender, work, aging and the life course, and film. Dr. Michael Ramirez, associate professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi As a sociologist, I am attentive to how nearly every dimension of social life is shaped …
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Prioritizing Well-Being as We Return to the Classroom
Crystal Carlson (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an assistant professor of psychology at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. Crystal is an educational psychologist, dedicated to the scholarship of teaching and learning. She is particularly sensitive to the interplay of student well-being and student success. Her research examines how to support the diverse needs of …
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