Bronx Community College at the City University of New York (CUNY)
Abstract
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented changes to higher education and left particularly damaging effects for the underprivileged population. Colleges suddenly shifted into online modality in March 2020, forcing both students and faculty to quickly adapt to the new learning environment. While much of the recent literature has focused on the challenges from the student perspectives (Black et al 2020; Malik, 2020), there has been little insight as to how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) faculty are dealing with the challenges. The purpose of this study is to better understand the impact this major shift has had on the challenges faculty faced in this process. To examine how our faculty rapidly adapted to teaching in distance learning modality, we analyzed a faculty survey conducted by the Writing Across the Curriculum program in Fall 2020. Eighty-six faculty members participated in a survey about pedagogical applications and concerns including responses to two open-ended questions. In response to the study, the recommendation is to expand professional development opportunities for faculty regarding online pedagogy that is systematically integrated into pedagogy in general.
Beth Counihan, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of English, Queensborough Community College-CUNY
Beth Counihan is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York. While in an administrative position at Lehman College, she worked on the HETS Virtual Plaza FIPSE grant and she has been teaching at Queensborough since Fall 2001. Her interests include High Impact Practices, reading theory and pedagogy, and nature across the curriculum. Her work has been published in English Education, Community College Humanities Review, and the edited volume What is College Reading.
Kristen Faye Linton, MSW, Ph.D., Assistant Professor California State University, Channel Islands
Dr. Linton has a PhD in social work and has been teaching and mentoring Latinx students for seven years; she utilized high-impact practices, such as service learning and undergraduate research. As a social worker and disability expert, she is dedicated to assessing and addressing inequities in education.
Jaime Hannans, PhD, RN, CNE Associate Professor, Nursing California State University, Channel Islands
Jaime Hannans PhD, RN, CNE is an Associate Professor of Nursing at California State University Channel Islands. Dr. Hannans obtained her BSN and MSN from CSU, Chico, and PhD from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Hannans has been teaching at CSUCI since 2009, with 20-years of critical care nursing experience. She is also the CSU Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) Campus Co-Coordinator, where the campus effort has saved students over five million dollars in the past five years. Her research interests focused on immersive virtual reality, mixed reality, simulation, technology in teaching and learning, textbook affordability, and the use of open educational resources in higher education.
Lydia Dixon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Health Science California State University, Channel Islands
Lydia Z. Dixon is an Assistant Professor of Health Science at California State University, Channel Island, and holds a PhD is in Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine. Her research is primarily ethnographic and examines health systems and health disparities in the US and Mexico. Specifically, Dr. Dixon has published on midwifery, reproductive health, community health and obstetric violence. Her teaching focuses on ethics, community health, and research methods. She is passionate about inspiring her students towards careers in research and practice through active learning in the classroom and virtual spaces.
Prof. Megan Everhardt-Alstot Learning Design Lead Lecturer, School of Education California State University, Channel Islands
Megan Eberhardt-Alstot is the Learning Design Lead for California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) Digital Learning Unit. She is also a Lecturer in the School of Education. She earned her BA and Teaching Credential from Pepperdine University and her Master’s in Educational Leadership and Administrative Credential from CSUCI. Prior to joining CI, Megan spent ten years as a K-12 Educator. As part of the Learning Design Team she designs, develops and facilitates faculty learning experiences specific to online and mixed-modality teaching. She also co-created Learning Online 101, an online micro-course to prepare students for success as online learners. Megan is interested in learning innovation, learning science, and the intersection of pedagogy and technology to create empathetic, equitable and responsive learning environments.
Dr. Amanda (Mandy) Giust Director, Graduate Student Research Center Albizu University, Miami Campu
Dr. Amanda Giust holds an Ed.D. in Adult Education and Human Resource Development from Florida International University. She has experience educating young children, adolescents, and adults of all abilities. Dr. Giust has eight years of experience managing a variety of community and federal grants and three years of experience in classroom teaching. Dr. Giust’s research interests include diverse learners, learning across the lifespan, self-directed learning, and career development.
Dr. Diana M. Valle-Riestra Project Director, Title V PPOHA Graduate Grant Albizu University-Miami Campus
Dr. Diana M. Valle-Riestra is the Project Director of the Title V PPOHA Graduate grant and a faculty member in the Speech & Language Pathology graduate program at Albizu University-Miami Campus. She has a Ph.D. in Special Education and Reading and an M.S. in Learning Disabilities and Emotional Disturbance from the University of Miami, School of Education. She has over 16 years of experience in higher education teaching undergraduate and graduate courses and has served as the Project Director or Principal Investigator for several multi-year education grant projects totaling over $9.5 million in competitive funding. In addition to Dr. Valle-Riestra’s project management experience and grant writing activities, she is a researcher with interests in the areas of special education, postsecondary inclusive education, working with diverse families, and leadership and advocacy issues within the context of special education. She has experience managing and coordinating undergraduate and graduate programs in special education, research projects, and local school district program evaluations; has consulted and published research on exceptional populations; and has served on several professional Executive Boards.
Dr. Yubelkys Montalvo Executive Director HETS Consortium
Yubelkys Montalvo has been working for the Hispanic Educational Technology Services Consortium (HETS) since 1999. Since she was appointed Executive Director in 2006, her main focus is the growth of the organization and the diversification of benefits for the Consortium’s member institutions. Among the initiatives developed is the creation of new services such as the peer-review publication: HETS Online Journal, the Ambassador Students program, and the collaboration to propose new technological educational alternatives and share best practices through educational events such as the Best Practices Showcase and the Student Showcase Leadership and recently, webinars for faculty, administrators and students. In addition, she has coordinated and overseen numerous international workshops in universities in Colombia and Mexico and has participated in numerous national and international conferences and forums. Dr. Montalvo holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, and a master’s degree in Public Relations from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. Currently, she completed his doctorate in the program: Education in Leadership and Instruction in Distance Education of the Inter American University of PR, Ponce Campus.
La Dra. Yubelkys Montalvo trabaja para el Hispanic Educational Technology Services Consortium (HETS, por sus siglas en inglés) desde el año 1999. Desde que fue designada Directora Ejecutiva en el 2006, su enfoque principal es el crecimiento de la organización y la diversificación de los beneficios para las instituciones miembros del Consorcio. Entre las iniciativas desarrolladas se destacan: la creación de nuevos servicios como la revista arbitrada HETS Online Journal, el programa de Estudiantes Embajadores y la colaboración para proponer nuevas alternativas educativas tecnológicas y compartir las mejores prácticas a través de eventos educativos como el Best Practices Showcase y el Student Leadership Showcase y recientemente, webinars para facultad, administradores y estudiantes. Además, ha coordinado y dirigido numerosos adiestramientos internacionales en universidades de Colombia y México, y ha participado en numerosas conferencias y foros Nacionales e Internacionales. La Dra. Montalvo posee un Bachillerato en Comunicaciones de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, y una Maestría en Relaciones Públicas de la Universidad de Sagrado Corazón. Actualmente, completó su doctorado en el programa: Educación en Liderazgo e Instrucción en la Educación a Distancia de la Universidad Interamericana de PR, Recinto de Ponce.
Dr. Frances Vázquez Padilla Chancellor NUC University
Dr. Frances M. Vázquez Padilla holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, a few years later completed a Master’s degree in Advanced Practice in Nursing. In 2020, she completed an Ed. D. in Educational Management, and recently she completed a professional certification in Neurolinguistic Programming and Coaching. She is currently doing another certification related to educational neuroscience. She has 14 years of experience working in the field of education in several positions as Faculty, Academic Director, Academic Dean at NUC University. Currently, she serves as Chancellor at NUC University, Ponce Campus in Puerto Rico.
Dr. Brenda Lee Morales holds a Bachelor’s Degree in General Elementary Education from Universidad del Turabo in Puerto Rico. A few years later he completed a Master’s degree in Educational Administration at the same institution. In 2016, she completed a PhD in Educational Leadership at Keiser University where she had already earned a Specialist in Education degree. Finally, in the academic aspect, Dr. Morales holds a Post Doctorate in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Walden University. She is currently doing another Post-Doctorate at Walden University in the Human Resources area. In terms of work and professional career, she has 27 years of experience working in the field of education in several positions as a teacher, Curriculum Specialist, Director of Federal Educational Proposals, Academic Dean, among others. He has worked at all levels of the education system in Puerto Rico, from Head Start to High School and at the university level. Eleven years ago, she began as Director of Federal Proposals and Professor of University Institutions and currently serves as Dean of Academic and Student Affairs at Humacao Community College in Puerto Rico, in addition to offering online courses to Humacao Community College in Puerto Rico, in addition to offering online courses to university level at the Masters and PhD level.
Prof. Silvia Maria Ruiz Santiago Indiantown Adult Learning Center (IALC) Martin County School District
Prof. Silvia Maria Ruiz Santiago is a teacher originally from Spain, with two bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Education. Currently, she’s pursuing a Ph.D. in Education and Leadership. She has been teaching for twelve years in private and public institutions from kindergarten to university levels around the world; in Spain, France, Chile, and now the USA. Her expertise is how to teach a foreign language. In the United States, she worked for three years as a French Immersion School teacher and later on as a Spanish professor in College. Right now, she’s teaching ESOL for the District of Martin County.
Swan Kim, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of English Bronx Community College at City University of New York
Swan Kim is an associate professor of English and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) coordinator at Bronx Community College (BCC) at City University of New York (CUNY). She received her PhD in English at the University of Virginia specializing in Asian American diaspora. She teaches courses in composition and ethnic American literature. Her research interests include WAC/WID, first-year writing, antiracist pedagogy, diaspora and immigration, race and ethnicity, and Asian American literature and culture. She has been serving as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee co-chair at the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum (AWAC), the co-leader for the CUNY WAC Professional Development, and a faculty senate and council member at her college.
Donna Kessler-Eng, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of English Bronx Community College at City University of New York
Dr. Donna Kessler-Eng is an associate professor of English at Bronx Community College (BCC). She is currently BCC’s Strong Start to Finish Resident (English), and is designing co-requisite courses for students with developmental needs in both English and reading. She earned a Ph.D. in English from the CUNY Graduate Center where she specialized in antebellum American literature and nineteenth century American medical and cultural discourse. She teaches developmental writing, composition, and literature and medicine courses. Her research interests include literature and medicine, pedagogy, first-year writing, developmental education reforms and strategies for community college students’ success. She has served as the coordinator of BCC’s Developmental Writing Program, and as the coordinator of BCC’s Tutorial Intervention Program. She was also a member of CUNY’s Developmental Writing Advisory Committee and CUNY’s Writing Discipline Council.
Associate Professor in Education Department at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY), served multiple terms as Chair of the Instructional Evaluation Committee, and is a member of the College-Wide Curriculum Committee.
Assistant Professor in Education Department at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY); his publications focus on high-risk health behavior, including causes and consequences of stress, and strategies to cope with stress.
Professor, Chair of Education Department, Coordinator of Teacher Education at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY), and founding member of Peer Observations Improvement Network for Teaching.
Assistant Professor in Natural Sciences Department at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY), and Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, where she studies paleoclimate using geochemical tools.
Assistant Professor of Game Design and Game Design Program Coordinator at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY), serves on Educational Technology Leadership Council, and recently published her first book.
Director of Special Projects & Student Engagement at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY); she is committed to student success, and her work has focused on designing and implementing a wide array of initiatives to improve students’ college experiences and academic attainment.
Assistant Professor in Humanities at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY); her research focuses include intercultural communication and institutional assessment including utilizing findings for continuous improvement.
Assistant Professor, California State University, San Bernardino
Dr. Neal Malik is an Assistant Professor, researcher, and podcaster. He has taught at Minority-Serving and Hispanic Serving Institutions for 13 years. In addition to receiving numerous pedagogy certifications, he been featured as a nutrition and wellness expert on CBS local radio in Los Angeles, CA, USA as well as a number of online and print publications including eHow.com and Men’s Fitness Magazine. Dr. Malik has also published peer-reviewed scientific literature on diet and its effects on appetitive hormones, type 2 diabetes, blood lipids, and body weight. In December 2020, he will be presenting on how Motivational Syllabi may improve student engagement in an online environment at the ITLC Lilly Conference. http://www.oldpodcast.com
Contact information: Address: 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA Email: neal.malik@csusb.edu Phone: 1 + (909) 537-4588
Associate Professor, University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus
Dr. Luciano work as a full-time Assistant Professor at the University of Puerto Rico-Cayey campus. Born in New York and then moved to Puerto Rico, and his hometown is Adjuntas. He has worked as a teacher-professor for almost thirty years now. Among his interests have always been to help English majors in their quest to become language experts as well as pedagogy students (elementary and secondary level) who want to become English teachers. Here in Puerto Rico English is taught as a second language (ESL), it is also a compulsory subject in schools from the elementary level. Luciano has worked as a teacher in all levels from the elementary to higher education. In addition, he has conducted research with middle, high school and college level ESL students. He is interested in conducting research with technological tools that can be used to bridge the gap between teaching and learning. Abut himself: I am a lifelong learner, and my biggest goal is to instill in my students the need for learning languages. My motto is: Learning is Fun, and It is A Lifelong Journey!
Associate Professor, Child and Adolescent Development Program, California State University Sacramento
Amber M. Gonzalez (Ph.D. UC Santa Barbara; she/ella) is an Associate Professor in the Child and Adolescent Development program at the California State University, Sacramento. Utilizing a multidisciplinary perspective including human development, educational psychology, as well as critical race theory she centers her research on examining Latinx academic aspirations and motivations through and across the P20 education pipeline. Her research examines the influence of social support networks and institutional structures on college student identity development and educational and career aspirations and motivations. In addition, she explores the ways in which students use these aspirations and motivations to ensure their success, manage failure, and persist. Dr. Gonzalez teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on motivation, quantitative research methods, and cross-cultural human development. Her scholarly work has been published in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, Journal of Educational Research, and College Student Journal.
Dean of Student Affairs, Associate Professor Carlos Albizu University, Miami Campus
Dr. Floralba Arbelo currently serves as the Dean of Student Affairs and as Associate Professor at Albizu University in Miami, Florida. Dr. Arbelo has held several positions in higher education including distance learning director, academic program director, research associate, curriculum specialist, and Title V Project Director in the United States, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Guatemala, Cuba, and in the Dominican Republic. Her research centers on Hispanic student success, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Hispanic student retention, and online teaching and learning. Her research has been published in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research, HETS Online Journal, International Journal of Doctoral Studies, and Journal of Teacher Action Research, among others. Dr. Arbelo has an earned Doctor of Education degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, a Master of Science from The New School for Public Engagement in NY, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. Her research has been presented at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institution Educators, The College Board, the Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference, and the National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies. In 2016, Dr. Arbelo was the recipient of the Women that Transcend Award for Global Leadership in Education and Community Service from the New Jersey Hand Foundation and was awarded Senatorial Citation for her volunteerism, activism, and mentoring activities among young adults and youth. She is an alum of the inaugural class of the HACU Instituto de Liderazgo Fellowship.
Lecturer, Business Department Hostos Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY)
Mayra L. Mojica Butler is a Lecturer in the Business Department at Hostos Community College (CUNY). She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting with a minor in finance from The University of Puerto Rico and the Master Degree in accounting from The University of Phoenix.
She has several years of experience in the field of accounting. Her extensive experience includes various accounting positions as Accountant at the Department of Labor (DOL) and Human Resources at Puerto Rico and Intern at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, DC, as well as Community Education Assistant at Bronx – Lebanon Hospital Center. In 2010 participated in Postgraduate Professional Development Program – PPDP in The Washington Center Education in Washington, DC.
She is the adviser of the Accounting Club at Hostos Community College, and every semester she hosts workshops designed to expand knowledge about the field of accounting and the many career paths and opportunities available in the accounting profession.
Also worked as a volunteer for New York Cares, a nonprofit volunteer organization in New York City in the Tax Preparation Program. The purpose of the program is to help people and communities in need of tax preparation support during the tax season.
La doctora Alice J. Casanova ha laborado en sector de la educación superior por más de 15 años, en la academia y la administración de esta. Posee un doctorado en Filosofía de la Educación con especialidad en Docencia y un Certificado en Educación Superior de Harvard University. Coordina el nodo de investigación en Puerto Rico de la Red Internacional de Investigadores en Educación a Distancia en Línea y Abierta (REDIC), es investigadora invitada en la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia en Costa Rica, imparte cursos en línea del nivel graduado y subgraduado. Colabora como especialista Desde 2016 es la Decana Institucional de Educación a Distancia en EDP University.
