Sharon Miller joined the founding faculty of Lone Star College-CyFair to teach Transitional English in 2003.  Sharon has won numerous awards for teaching including the Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award at LSC-North Harris and the 2009-2010 Faculty Excellence Award at LSC-CyFair.   Her colleagues have named her the campus Advocate for Excellence, Active Learning Guru, Learning Innovator, Star Morale (Builder), and the President’s Cy-Fair Spirit Award winner.  In 2009, Sharon spent a month at the prestigious Kellogg Institute sponsored by the National Association for Developmental Education, and also gained her Accelerated Learning Starter Certificate.  She has served as TxCRLA Secretary since 2008.

Essie Childers has been a full-time Parallel Studies faculty member at Blinn College in Bryan, Texas, for 3 years.   However, she comes to Blinn College with over 21 years of experience with developmental education.   On the college level, Essie has taught for Austin Community College, Oklahoma City Community College and Tyler Junior College.   Her current assignments at Blinn College are Reading 0306, Study Skills and Education 1300.  Essie also serves as a Co-Chair of Achieving the Dream for Blinn College.  In 2008, Essie was the recipient of CRLA’s Professional Developmental Award.

Sara Weertz

    Mrs. Weertz is presently Founding Director of Supplemental Instruction and Tutoring of Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.  Her program was a finalist for the annual Texas Higher Education Star Award in 2008.  She has produced a series of tutor training workshops on Building Rapport, Mentoring, and the Socratic Method.  Additionally, her most recent workshop was Study Skills Application and Resources.  Mrs. Weertz was the 2007 recipient of TxCRLA’s annual Ann B. Faulkner Award.

     Mrs. Weertz received her B.A. cum laude in English and Professional Writing and her M.Ed. in Instructional Technology with an emphasis in Human Performance Improvement and Training from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.  Prior to coming to Angelo State University, she worked for a number of years as an editor, writing instructional manuals and reference materials for libraries and schools.

     Besides serving as president of TxCRLA, Mrs. Weertz is an active member of the American Evaluation Association, the International Society for Performance Improvement, the National College Learning Center Association, and the American Society for Training and Development.

     In addition to encouraging more statewide participation in TxCRLA, Mrs. Weertz is overseeing the implementation of a series of Webinars for members.  These Webinars will cover a host of topics of interest in college support services.  (Watch for more information at this website.)

Gladys R. Shaw, Ms. Alyea, and Sharon Haigler, TxCRLA President

     Lindley Workman Alyea, Assistant Director of the Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC) at Texas State University, is the first recipient of the Gladys R. Shaw Professional Development Award.  Ms. Alyea will apply the monetary award to her expenses for the 2010 6th International Conference on Supplemental Instruction in New Orleans, Louisiana.  This conference is held every two years.

   Ms. Alyea first met Mrs. Gladys Shaw, the award’s namesake, at the CASP 2008 Conference in Corpus Christi, Texas.  They worked together as the featured speakers for the 11th Tutor Training Leadership Institute.  It was here that Ms. Alyea discovered that she and Mrs. Shaw shared a “passion  for instilling a variety of life skills” and leadership abilities  in the learning center staff at the SLAC.  Her primary responsibility at Texas State University is the supervision of over forty SI Leaders, working with eight disciplines.

     “It would be an honor to attend [the SI conference] in Gladys R. Shaw’s name,” adds Ms. Alyea.

Tamara Clunis

Ms. Clunis has over ten years of experience with developmental and adult education in Texas.  Prior to joining the Coordinating board, she worked for Austin Community College teaching reading and learning strategies. While at ACC, she taught in learning communities targeting developmental education students.  She was also active on developmental education committees and served on college-wide committees to promote student success for students of color.  She taught developmental reading and educational psychology class for first year freshmen at Texas State University-San Marcos for several years.  Her most recent position was with the United States Military Academy (WestPoint) where she worked as a senior faculty member and developmental reading specialist.  At WestPoint, she redesigned the learning strategies curriculum to focus on contextualized learning to increase student success in the freshman core curriculum.

Ms. Clunis has directed numerous adult education professional grants with Texas State University College of Education and led the statewide project that developed a credentialing system for Texas adult educators.  She holds a master’s degree in Developmental and Adult education from Texas State University and is a Ph.D. candidate in the Adult, Professional, & Community Education program at Texas State University.

Gladys R. Shaw

The award is named in honor of Gladys R. Shaw, Director of the Student Support Services Program at the University of Texas at El Paso.  Mrs. Shaw is a champion in the field of developmental education and traces her passion back to her own personal experience.  “I was a first-generation-college, low-income farm girl myself who earned a scholarship that went with the valedictorian designation for my high school graduating class.”  However, she married her husband while she was still a high school senior and at a time when both honors were denied because of the marriage.  She eventually did earn a B.A degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Business and Education, earning her certification for public accountant after only one sitting for the exam.  Two years later, she earned her M.A. (with honors) in business and education.  Mrs. Shaw has worked in both commerce and education, “especially Developmental Education, but have always been driven back to DE-probably partially due to that high school experience, but also one can really see the difference one makes,” she adds.   ”When I look at my resume, and reflect on the wonderful honors that have come my way, I have to say (as my daddy always told me) we get out of any experiences exponential rewards for the passion and effort we invest.  Of those rewards, which I do treasure greatly, the most important are still the students who succeed and the friends I have made along the way.”

Besides her prized students, Mrs. Shaw has been recognized for many other awards, including her 2004 induction as a Fellow of the American Council of Developmental Education Associations and her recent nomination to the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame.  She has held offices in and served on numerous committees of NADE and CRLA as well as several other academic organizations.  She was the treasurer of both NADE (1991-1995) and CRLA (1986-1988).  She served as the TADE President from 1991-1992 and its treasurer from 1988-1991.  She has authored and co-authored numerous books, chapters, journal articles, and other publications, most of which were for developmental education.  Mrs. Shaw sums up her past and ongoing career with, “You know the old saying, ’success breeds success?’”  

For more information on the eligibility requirements and application procedure for the Gladys R. Shaw Professional Development Award, go to the “Awards” page.

ESSIE CHILDERS

Essie Childers, Instructor of Parallel Studies at Blinn College-Bryan Campus, is the recipient of the 2008 Professional Developmental Scholarship Award sponsored by the College Reading and Learning Association [CRLA].  The award, presented at the National CRLA Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, is designated for participation in professional workshops related to the recipient’s area of expertise.  Mrs. Childers will be applying her scholarship towards the TIDE summer workshop at Texas State University in San Marcos, where she will be working on video and/or audio tutorial podcasts for developmental courses.

In addition to teaching developmental reading, Mrs. Childers undertook the director’s responsibilties for the 2008 THECB Summer Bridge program at Blinn College-Bryan Campus.  She has presented at many professional conferences, and most recently presented at the CASP Conference in Corpus, Christi, Texas.  Her pre-conference institute at CASP, “A Novel Plan: Motivation and Comprehension in Just Six Weeks!” gave participants innovative ideas for using novels in developmental reading classes to create interest and motivate reluctant readers.  She has also presented at NISOD and TCCTA-Gifts.

Russ Hodges, Ed.D

Russ Hodges, of Texas State University in San Marcos, was unanimously selected by the CASP board to receive the 2008 CASP Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent CASP Conference in Corpus Christi, Texas. This award is reserved for those individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of developmental education and/or to the field of learning assistance and have served in one or both sponsoring organizations, TxCRLA and/or TADE. Dr. Hodges, an Associate Professor of Adult and Developmental Education at TSU, is prominent as a leader in developmental education having served in many capacities in the field both inside and outside the classroom.

Dr. Hodges is a member of both TxCRLA and TADE and served as president of the national College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) in 2004 – 2005. Previous to that office, he served as that organization’s treasurer from 1999 until 2002. He and his team have been regular contributors at the annual CASP Conferences, having just presented their highly popular pre-conference institute, “Tutor Training Leadership Institute,” for the eleventh year in a row. Dr. Hodges has collaborated with several colleagues in publishing education books and articles, and he won Outstanding Article for Volume 24 in the Journal of Developmental Education which was presented at the 26^th Annual Conference for the National Association for Developmental Education. Dr. Hodges is instrumental in the establishing and on-going leadership of the Technology Institute for Developmental Educators, (TIDE), an intensive 5-day technology workshop specifically designed for developmental educators.

The CASP Lifetime Achievement Award was last presented in 2005 to Janith Stephenson, now retired from the College of the Mainland, Galveston, Texas.

M.E. MCWILLIAMS

M.E. McWilliams, Director of the Academic Assistance and Resource Center (AARC) of Stephen F. Austin State University, is the 2008 recipient of the TxCRLA Ann B. Faulkner Professional Development Award. The purpose for this annual award, presented at the CASP 2008 conference, is to promote research and development in developmental education and/or other learning assistance fields. Ms. McWilliams plans to use her award toward funding her attendance at Technology Institute for Developmental Educators (TIDE) where she will be focusing on building a math on-line lab and other technological projects for the AARC. TIDE is a mentoring program based at Texas State University in San Marcos that assists developmental educators with the participants’ specific school-related technological projects.

Since her recent appointment as director of the AARC, Ms. McWilliams and her team has launched several new technology projects including an on-line writing lab, new collaborative projects with University Affairs, a new blogazine called The Broken Spoon, and a forthcoming new tutor management database.

Prior to becoming director of the AARC, Ms. McWilliams served as SI Program Director for six years. During her term as director, the center was honored with:

• The TADE Distinguished Program Award
• Distinguished Certification from NADE
• Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Star Award
• Highest Level of CRLA Tutor Training Certification for all four programs at the AARC.

Featured presentations include “Tutor Training CPR” presented by Lindley Workman Alyea (Texas State University-San Marcos).  Get some fresh ideas to enliven your tutor training sessions, such as favorite ice breakers and even a live auction activity guaranteed  to bring training meetings back to life.  ”Experiential Tutor Training Activities,” presented by Todd Phillips (East Central College-Union, MO), will add to your repertoire of team-building activities designed to create positive bonding opportunities and a feeling of shared leadership for tutors.  Just to whet your appetite for good things to come, some of these activity titles include ”The Bus Stop,” ”Traffic Jam,” “Group Geometry,” and “Circle of Trust.” 

Participants who are seeking any level of CRLA Tutor Program Certification will receive three credit hours toward that certification.  The institute is limited to 50 participants and pre-registration is required.

Jean’s pre-conference institute, “Renewing/Sustaining Expert Enthusiasm for Teaching and Student Learning,” will present ways to help you recognize the causes of these blocks, deal with them, and then regain your passion for teaching.  You will engage in a variety of practical activities that serve to keep alive your original zeal for teaching.

Jean comes to us with exceptional credentials.  She is a Program Coordinator and Instructional Consultant for the Center for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M Unversity. 

Check out the the details for signing up for this institute in the upcoming Call to Conference.