EAHR Connect Doctoral Students’ Monthly Messenger

From the Department of Educational Administration

And Human Resource Development

Upcoming Speakers Location TBD

Brenda Taylor,

September 15 12pm-1pm

Carolyn Denton, September 29 12pm-1pm

September, 2014 Volume 1, Issue 4

**Reminders**

Link to academic calendar Link to Office of Graduate and Pro-fessional Studies calendar Be sure to take a look at deadlines for Fall graduation. October 17 (Friday) is the last day to take final exam (defend dissertation or record of study).

Let us hear of your achievements (including presentations and

publications) so we can include them in our student messenger. The intent of the newsletter is to keep our EAHR Doctoral Students

informed and connected. Send those awards in to Meghan Hokom

at mhokom@tamu.edu

**Upcoming Conferences and Call for Proposals!!!**

2014 TASA (Texas Association of School Administrators) Convention will be held at Dallas, TX, September 26-28. The detailed information is available at: http://www.tasa.tasb.org/index.html.

2014 CEPA (Collaborative Educational Program of the Americas) Leadership Consortium will be held in San Antonio, TX October 9-11. Paper Proposals and Registration open until September 15. Click here for more information:

2014 RWE (Research on Women and Education) Conference on will be held at The Doubletree Hilton Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, October 16-18, 2014. The detailed information is available at: http://www.rwesig.net/fall-conference.html.

2014 MSERA (Mid-South Educational Research Association) Annual Meeting will be held in Knoxville, TN - November 5-7, 2014. The detailed information is available here:

2014 UCEA (University Council for Educational Administration) Conventions will be held at Washington Hilton in Washington, DC - November 20-23, 2014. The detailed information is available at: http://ucea.org/annual-convention-2014/

2015 AHRD (Associated of Human Resource Development) will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, February 19-21. Deadline for proposals is SEPTEMBER 8! Click here for details.

2015 AEFP (Association of Education Finance and Policy) will hold their annual meeting in Washington DC on February 26-28. Proposal are being accepted until September 30th. Click here for more information. 2015 AERA (American Educational Research Association) Annual Meeting Chicago:

April 16-April 20 Toward Justice: Culture, Language, and Heritage in Education Research and Praxis Click here for more information. Deadline for Volunteer Session Chairs and Discussants is August 29, 2014. To volunteer, click here: Conference/ Registration Fees Needs money to attend a conference for your presentation? EAHR GRAB (Graduate Representative Advisory Board) may help you. EAHR and GRAB graduate students in the department to pursue and present scholarly work in conferences. Scholarship funds have been established to help students for this purpose. The detailed information is available at: http://grab.tamu.edu/travel

The ELRC Newsletter is edited by

Meghan Hokom and Dr. Beverly Irby

Please contact them at mho-

kom@tamu.edu or irbyb@tamu.edu if

you have any comments or concerns of

if you would like to suggest content for

future issues.

The Technical Editor of the newsletter is

Mary Henderson

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HOWDY AND WELCOME BACK!

I hope you had a restful and fruitful summer. As we begin the 2014-2015 academic year and fall 2014 semester, I would like to remind you of Albert Einstein’s words of wisdom: It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge of the students.

Regarding the faculty searches during the 2013-2014 academic year, I am very pleased to inform you that four faculty hires were made during the year. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Khalil Dirani, Associate Professor of Human Resource Development, Dr. Robert Muller, Clinical Associate Pro-fessor of Educational Leadership, Dr. Karen Smith, Clinical Associate Pro-fessor of Educational Leadership and Dr. Jill Zarestky, Clinical Assistant Professor of Adult Education and Human Resource Development. Faculty searches for the positions of Assistant or Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Clinical Assistant Pro-fessor of Technology Management/HRD are continuing.

AROUND THE DEPARTMENT

The state of the art Lab for Technology Management was constructed during the summer break and will be ready for use on September 1, 2014. To use or view the lab visit Harrington Tower room 616.

Congratulations to Drs. Ann Gundy and Kelli Peck-Parrott for their promotion to Full Clinical Professor beginning September 1, 2014.

Congratulations to Dr. Mary Alfred (PI) and TCALL Team for the award of $4.6 million grant following a competitive grant application process. See the story (Texas Workforce Commission Awards Texas A&M $4.6 Million To Pro-mote Adult Education And Literacy). Congratulations to Dr. Khali Dirani on his appointment as chair, Educational Human Resource Development De-gree Program and Dr. Robert Trez Jones on his appointment as coordinator undergraduate human resource devel-opment and technology management.

Congratulations to our students, faculty and staff who were recognized for their exemplary performance and re-ceived EAHR Awards. See the story http://education.tamu.edu/node/3253

Congratulations to Nikki Altman who is currently studying human resource development for being named as a 2014 Tillman Military Scholar. See the full story http://pattillmanfoundation.org/sixthclass/

Congratulations to Dr. Larry Dooley on being named a Faculty Fellow for Innovation in High Impact Learning Expe-riences

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Jones on being selected as a university service learning fellow. see the story: http://eahr.tamu.edu/node/309

Congratulations to Dr. Beverly Irby who has been named as editor of the National Council of Professors of Educa-tional Administration (NCPEA) policy briefs.

Congratulations to Dr. Jia Wang who has been named Associate Editor of the Journal of Human Resource Devel-

opment Review.

Congratulations to former student Dr. Glenn Philips on publication of his book, the poems, Former Students: A Col-lection of Aggie Poetry. Follow this link http://aggiepoetry.com

Mina Beigi

I am Ph.D. Candidate in Human Resource Development. My research interests include work-family intersection and organizational training and development. I am currently working on two projects related to work-family intersection among academicians. As a current Ph.D. candidate, I do not have a particular advice for my peers, but I call for further academic collaborations among us. I believe there is a lot we can learn from each other before we leave our program and walk into our future careers. I advise new doctoral students to form mentor-mentee relationships with their

professors and learn from their academic and practical experiences. Furthermore, I encourage them to empower their research skills and take benefit of the plethora of developmental opportunities available at Texas A&M.

Spotlight on Graduate Students

Dr. Priyanka Doshy Currently, along with working full-time at Dallas ISD as a trainer and calibration facilitator, I am working on constructing and publishing papers from my dissertation with my Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Jia Wang. I am most passionate about workplace incivility, which was the focus of my dissertation. I also enjoy researching on workplace issues faced by minority groups, international HRD, and cultural diversity. Current doctoral students, my advise to you would be that you map out your journey and develop a habit to be accountable to yourself. You will be your best partner in this journey. If you keep yourself on track, your advisor will be able to carry you forward. When prior to starting the

doctoral program a colleague/friend advised me to begin working on my dissertation topic/area as soon as possible. Accordingly, I began working on workplace incivility and exploring that area from the very first semester of my doctoral program. All my assignments, presentations, projects were somehow tied to workplace incivility. This not only helped me learn about the topic but it also helped me develop my dissertation question. Doing so, helped me finish in three and a half years.

Congratulations to Kellsie Guidry and Dr. Sehoon Kim for having been selected as distinguished honor graduates. Both Kellsie and Sehoon were recognized on August 15, 2014.

Congratulations to former student Dr. Priyanka Doshy on her appointment as a Training and Calibration Facilitator by the Dallas Independent School District. See the story - http://education.tamu.edu/news-archive/2014/07/former-student-accepts-new-position-dallas-isd

I wish you all the very best for a very productive and rewarding fall semester.

Warm regards,

Fred

Professor & Department Head, Education Administration and Human Resource Development

Spotlight on Former Students

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Dr. Jia Wang Associate Professor, Educational Administration and Human Resource Development

My research has been evolving over the time to include issues that are relevant to contemporary organizations. Specifically, I have been working on three areas of research: (1) human resource development (HRD) in the international context; (2) organization crisis management; and (3) learning within organizations. First, as an HRD scholars, I am passionate about finding means to help individuals and organizations reach their full potential and improve their performance. Under the continuing globalization trend, I am interested in understanding human resource development policies and practices in different country contexts and explore the potential impact of culture in shaping HRD practices on various levels. Secondly, I am deeply interested in exploring how HRD can contribute to organizations' effort in dealing with crisis events. While crisis research is a well established research territory, limited efforts have been made in understanding crisis management processes from the HRD lens. Thirdly, I am interested in understanding how organizations and their members learn to cope with and adapt to the constantly changing environment. My research in this area reflects, to some degree, an intersection of my research in the first two areas. My ultimate goal through these three streams of research is to help identify and design interventions that would help organizations and individuals improve their performance and overall health. Besides my continuing research on the three areas mentioned above, I am currently working with a few of my doctoral students on literature review and qualitative research projects related to topics such as workplace incivility, work-family intersection/balance related issues, and individual career choices. I consider these research topics an extension of my own research agenda as all these issues are directly related to the overall well-being of individuals and ultimately, affecting organizational effectiveness. A dissertation project is the first significant project doctoral students conduct as emerging scholars. Therefore, they have the tendency of thinking big with a desire or hope that this one project will address many, if not all the problems in the world. While I admire this aspiration (as I have been there, done that), I also remind my students that this is simply not a realistic goal. So here are my few pointers for doctoral students to keep in mind when they embark on their dissertation journey.

There is no single topic which is completely brand new, so be careful with making a claim such as "nobody has ever studied my topic."

Avoid the tendency of solving the world's problems through one study; instead, list all your research interest, and pick one that interests you most at the moment for your dissertation study.

Focusing on demonstrating your competency as a researcher instead of a problem solver. With this mindset, your job is to identify a meaningful research topic and issues, and design a rigorous study to address these issues.

In the process of conducting your dissertation project, remember you are the content expert so you do not have to always agree to whatever your committee wants you to do, but you do have to learn to defend your decisions in a scholarly way.

Develop a peer support system knowing that your colleagues are just as willing to offer you some input or listen to your frustrations as your dissertation committee.

Finally, remember: a successful dissertation is a complete dissertation; so it is crucial that you learn to bring your project to a closure.

I can give a long list but I am sharing only three pieces of advice which I believe will make doctoral students' life much easier when they research th dissertation stage. First, while it would be definitely to their own advantage if the doctoral students start their doctoral journey with clear research ideas and a vision about their 'destination'', it is not uncommon that students change their research interests as they gain new knowledge and insights in the course of study. So be open to new ideas and allow yourself to explore options.

Spotlight on Faculty

***Doctoral Dissertation Tips ***

Dr. Laura Hammons

Director, Graduate Records Processing and Thesis Office

Preparing your thesis/dissertation: Using the Thesis Office Templates and APA 6th

How should I format my thesis/dissertation? The Thesis Manual provides comprehensive guidance on the format and style of the thesis/dissertation for Texas A&M University; however, students are directed to follow the style guide specified by their College or Department when formatting the references, table titles, and figure captions. Students in EAHR should be using the most recent APA style guide: Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, sixth edition. Other aspects of the thesis/dissertation may conform to APA as long as these requirements do not conflict with requirements provided in the Thesis Manual. When reviewing a thesis/dissertation for clearance, the Thesis Office will look for consistency within the document (consistency in subheading style, table numbering, presentation of block quotes, etc.), not necessarily conformance to APA. Additionally, the Thesis Office provides two Microsoft Word templates to assist students in preparing the manuscript for submission: the basic and recommended templates. Students are encouraged to select the template which best meets their needs and reflects their skill level with Microsoft Word.

Second, for new doctoral students, it is important that they understand, upfront, doing research at the doctoral level is not an option, but a must. Findings from research are meaningless if they are not disseminated to the general public. Thus, doctoral students have the obligation of publishing their research. To fulfill this obligation, you have to take writing seriously and make an effort in learning how to write scholarly. Third, be proactive and resourceful. Instead of waiting for your advisor to tell you what to do and where to go for help, conduct your own research.

Spotlight on Faculty Cont...

APA 6th heading levels:

First Level Subheading (Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase)

Second Level Subheading (Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase) Third level subheading. (Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text after the period.) Fourth level subheading. (Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text after the period.)

Fifth level subheading. (Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text after the period. Thesis Office Template levels:

MAJOR HEADING (Centered, Boldface, All Caps)

First Level Subheading (Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase)

Second Level Subheading (Centered, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase)

Third Level Subheading (Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase) Fourth Level Subheading (Left-aligned, italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase heading.) Fifth level subheading. (Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text after the

period.)

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***Doctoral Dissertation Tips *** continued….

Recommended template Title Page uses drop downs to minimize

spelling and content errors. Uses built in styles and figure/table

captioning to enable automatic generation of Table of Contents, List of Figures and List of Tables. Updates performed with simple right click and “Update” functions.

Requires user to consistently apply styles and captions throughout the document.

Use of instructional guide is important in order to minimize errors when using styles and generating automatic lists.

Does not currently support section numbering of tables and figures (2.1, 2.2, etc.).

Basic template Template is pre-set with placeholder text.

User simply types over placeholder material.

Delete functions or copy/paste may be used to remove unnecessary or to generate additional sub/headings or titles.

In Table of Contents, List of Figures, and List of Tables, tab stops and leader dots are used to correctly align text and page numbers in lists. User selects “tab” to indent subheadings, generate leader dots and move from title to page number sections.

User must manually type all titles, subheadings, and figure/table/page numbers. Any revisions must also be made manually.

Figure/table numbering may be consecutive throughout (1,2,3 ) or by section ( 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)

If you are using the Recommended template and choose to alter the existing subheadings, please make note of the following additional steps which will be required:

The first time you create a second level subheading, manually apply the correct style to add bolding and left align. Then, go to the “Styles” section of the Ribbon and right click on “Second Level Subheading”. Choose the option, “Update Sec-ond Level Subheading to Match Selection.”

Apply the modified Second Level Subheading Style to ALL second level subheadings.

Use the appropriate APA 6th level headings for all lower level subheadings (3

rd-5

th), but do not apply automatic styles.

Microsoft Word does not effectively handle “in-paragraph” subheading styles.

Once the Table of Contents has been inserted, review to ensure all major headings and first and second level subhead-ings appear. If not, modify the instructions for generating the Table of Contents. Go to “References” in the Ribbon, and select “Table of Contents”, then “Insert Table of Contents.” Go to “Options” and be sure TOC levels are specified as fol-lowing: Major Heading (1), First Level Subheading (2), and Second Level Subheading (3). Remove numbers for any oth-er heading levels. Finally, regenerate the Table of Contents and review for accuracy.

Each fall and spring semester (in September/October and February), the Thesis Office hosts hands-on workshops for each of the templates. Monitor the OGAPS Workshops and Training Calendar for information. If you need additional guidance re-garding the Thesis Manual, use of the Thesis Office templates, or any other thesis/dissertation preparation and submission question, feel free to contact or visit our office. Thesis Office 612 Sterling C. Evans Library Office Hours: M-F, 8am-noon; 1-5pm http://thesis.tamu.edu Email: thesis@tamu.edu Phone: 979-845-2225

***Doctoral Dissertation Tips *** continued….

**Awards and Achievements*** Student Presentations: Lolita Tabron and Margie Martinez presented at The National Council of Professor’s of Education

Administration

Congratulations on the following Proposal presentations! Harliegh Jones (EDAD)

Joel “Trey” Turner (EDAD)

Special Appointments: Nahed Abdelrahman is the Assistant Editor on the Advancing Women in Leadership Journal

Nahed Abdelrahman and Meghan Hokom are the Assistant Editors for the Routledge: Taylor and Francis,

Mentoring and Torturing Journal, also sponsored by the National Council of Professors of Educational Admin-

istrators

**Look who is leaving**

Congratulations Graduates!

August 2014 Graduates Dr. Rachelle Warren (EDAD), Chair: Chambers

Dr. Se Hoon Kim (HRD), Chair/CoChair: Wang & Tolson

Dr. Hugh ‘Don’ Barwick (Higher Ed), Chair: Lincoln

Dr. Glenn Phillips (Higher Ed), Chair: Lincoln

Dr. Harold Henson (Adult Ed), Chair: Clark

Dr. Renata Russo (Adult Ed), Chair: Chlup

Dr. Tonya Turner (Adult Ed), Chair: Alfred

Dr. Jill Zarestky (Adult Ed), Chair: Chlup

December 2014 Graduates Dr. Angela Abney (EDAD)

Dr. Bradley Schnautz (EDAD)

Dr. Kimberely Rhodes-Monette (EDAD)

Dr. Lina Esquivel (EDAD)

Dr. Ryan Beard (EDAD)

*A special thank you Minjun Kim, former graduate student and previous editor of the Student Monthly Messenger. She also

served as the Assistant Editor for the Routledge, Taylor, & Francis Mentoring and Tutoring Journal*

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Dr. Khalil Dirani

Dr. Dirani earned his PhD (Education) from the University of Illinois in 2007. He

was hired as Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia (UGA) and was promoted

to Associate Professor with Tenure in Fall 2013, and served as HROD Program

Coordinator. He will join the Department of Educational Administration and Human

Resource Development at Texas A&M University as an Associate Professor in

September 2014.

Dr. Dirani’s research focus is on International HRD, learning organizations in

Lebanon and the Middle East region, and transfer of learning practices and theories

across cultures. He developed the Arabic version of the Dimensions of the Learning

Organization Questionnaire (Watkins & Marsick 1993), which was implemented by Arab

scholars in Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Dr. Dirani’s articles have

appeared in both research and professional publications such as Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human

Resource Development International, International Human Resource Management, Advances in International

Management, and European Journal for Training & Development.

He has received several awards including the Award for Highly Commended Paper at the 12th International

HRD Conference across Europe in 2011. He served as co-PI on two grants, totaling close to $1-million. He served

as editorial board member and/or reviewer on several journals and conference proceedings, and served as Editor

***Welcome New Faculty ***

Dr. Trez Jones

Dr. Jones is a 2004 graduate of Texas A&M earning a Ph.D. in Education

Leadership. He also earned a Bachelor and Master in Agricultural Education from Texas

A&M. Previously, he has worked as a network engineer for Viatel UK Limited, Chief

Technology Officer for Montana State University, and several technology positions for

Texas A&M. Most recently, he taught at Blinn College and Sam Houston State

University. He was awarded a University Service-Learning Fellowship for the 2014-2015

school year. Additionally, he was a coauthor of a university high impact faculty fellow

award, recipient of a college undergraduate student research initiative award (USRI) and

a grant from Amazon. His research interests include computer gamer psychology,

teaching technology/IT skills, and the technology impact on organizational development.

He is a member of the Christian faculty network and is a notary (who does not charge for his services). Dr. Jones is

married to a Bryan native and has two children, one from

China and one from South Korea.

Previously taught courses: Upcoming Fall Courses:

EHRD 489- Intro to database administration EHRD 476- Managing Technical Networks

EHRD 475- Multimedia EHRD 689- Computer Hardware and End-User Support

EHRD 374- Organizational development

EHRD 371- Adult learning

EHRD 405- Leadership in HRD

EHRD 474- Fundamentals of Networking

Dr. Robert Muller

Dr. Muller earned his BS with a major in Economics from Oklahoma State Universi-

ty. He also earned his MS in Educational Administration from Oklahoma State University. In

1989, he earned his Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Texas at

Austin where he was a Cooperative Superintendency Fellow, Cycle 7. Dr. Muller has held

positions as a teacher, coach, high school principal, central office administrator, and

Associate Commissioner and Chief of Staff at the Texas Education Agency. Since 2003 he

has been with the Killeen Independent School District (42,000 student enrollment district in

central Texas), serving that district since 2008 as Superintendent. Dr. Muller is married, he

and his wife Donna have three daughters, Rebecca, a 2012 graduate of Texas A&M College Station, Niki, a junior at

the University of Texas @ Austin, and Emily a senior at Harker Heights High School, Harker Heights, Texas. This

fall, Dr. Muller will be teaching EDAD 604-605: Principalship, EDAD 651: Education Finance and Economics, and

supervising the Administrative Internships.

***Welcome New Faculty ***

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Karen Smith, Ed.D.

Dr. Smith is teaching in the Ed.D. and M. Ed. Educational Administration programs,

serving as a Clinical Associate Professor. She previously served as Associate Dean in the

College of Education at Sam Houston State University, supervising the accreditation of the

college, educator preparation and certification programs. Prior to her service in higher

education, she served as a teacher and school administrator in the Houston metro area.

She is a Site Visitor for the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation, and past

Dr. Jill Zarestky

Dr. Jill Zarestky, Ph.D., joins the department as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Her

research interests include non-formal and community-based education, art-based learning,

and issues of feminism, globalization, and social justice. She was awarded a Women's and

Gender Studies Dissertation Fellowship for her case study of one NGO's educational

programs for women entrepreneurs in West Africa. Dr. Zarestky is active in the American

Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) and is currently a candidate for a

position on its board of directors. Before earning her doctorate in adult education from

Texas A&M University in 2014, Dr. Zarestky was a Senior Lecturer in the TAMU

Department of Mathematics, as she has a master’s degree in computational and applied

mathematics from the University of Texas, Austin. This fall, she will be teaching EHRD 371: Applied Learning Princi-

ples, and EHRD 643: Adult Education, Globalization, and Social Justice. Her hobbies include raveling, running, and

knitting; you may have seen her lace work on display at the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley or local yarn shops.