Faculty and staff accomplishments Tessa W. Carr ’93, Ph.D., assistant professor of performing arts, serves on the editorial board of Southern Theatre Magazine, the primary publication of the Southeastern Theatre Conference and has an article currently under review with the magazine. Kacy E. Crabtree, Ph.D. associate provost, completed the following continuing education programs during the 2008-09 academic year: the Duke University Non-Profit Management program, the ACA Teaching and Learning Institute, and ATHE Leadership Institute coordinated by the Association for Theater in Higher Education. She was the feature editor for an article titled “Native American Dance Legacy” that was published by the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. In addition, Dr. Crabtree completed her doctoral studies from the Union Institute & University and is awaiting final acceptance of her dissertation “Changing the Blueprint: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Preparing Arts Managers and Leaders of the 21st Century”. Scott Crawford, M.Ed., director of the Global Community Center, has been accepted into a 12-member cohort at Columbia University in New York City to pursue his doctoral degree in education leadership. The four-year program, which condenses coursework into intense summer and weekend sessions, allows Scott to continue full-time with Lees-McRae while applying his graduate study to work he does in the Global Community Center. He began this past summer, spending July in New York where he lived in International House, adjacent to Columbia’s campus, interacting with graduate students from all over the world and absorbing ideas to bring back to Banner Elk. Randy Cromwell, Ph.D., associate professor and director of teacher education, reviewed 27 proposals for re-visioned science education programs for North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction and is a new member of the Department of Public Instruction’s ad-hoc committee on 21st Century Teaching and Teacher Education.
Melinda Davis, Ph.D., assistant professor of elementary education, presented her research on a 19th century female academy in Tennessee at the National Conference for Research on Women in Education in Washington, D.C. in October 2008. Karen O. Fritz, Ph.D., associate professor of business administration, presented “The Multiplier Effect: Partnering with Students in Free Enterprise” (SIFE) at Western Carolina University’s 5th Annual Symposium on Service Learning and Civic Engagement on June 11, 2009. Her presentation was based on a case study that explored the programs and findings of SIFE students who impacted the lives of minority single mothers and children in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with a support group named WE CARE: Women Empowering and Creating Affirmation Responsibility and Employability. Dani Usedom ’07, director of campus recreation, recently earned the American Council on Exercise Personal Trainer Certification and is working toward a Group Fitness Instructor Certification, allowing the college to offer more fitness programs to students and the community. Lees-McRae faculty members Dr. Tessa Carr, Dr. Fiona Chrystall, Dr. Randy Cromwell, Dr. Karen Fritz, Dr. Graham Spann and Dr. Chrissy Spencer attended the Appalachian College Association’s Teaching and Learning Institute, hosted at Brevard College June 1-5, 2009. The institute was an opportunity for faculty to focus on improving teaching and learning in a “camp” atmosphere that allows for wide ranging discussions with luminaries in the field. This site is used to disseminate materials, allow the participants to get to know each other in advance of the Institute, to engage in discussions about the materials to be presented at the Institute and to generally build a community of practice.
Alumni Council elects new officers After serving two years as president of the Alumni Council, Martha McAfee Krieger ’86/’03 turned over the title to Kim Garrison Palmisano ’83 during Homecoming 2009 at the annual meeting of the Alumni Association. Palmisano will serve a two-year term. Catherine Button Campe ’89/’91 will move into the position of president elect, Lynn Swisher Neese ’88/’90 will be vice president, and Jennifer Baker ’06 will be secretary. Martha McAfee Krieger, of Marietta, South Carolina, will remain on the Alumni Council as immediate past president. She joined the Alumni Council in 1999 and served in roles including 1980s decade representative, secretary, vice president, president elect and president. She is the recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award and the 2008 Alumni Service Award. Krieger has been a communications specialist, technical writer, project manager and small business owner. Kim Garrison Palmisano joined the council in 2005. She served as the 1980s decade representative, then as president elect. She has chaired both the fund raising and nomination committees of the council. Palmisano is a senior account manager with the Center
for Creative Leadership’s North American Business Development Group based at the Center’s headquarters in Greensboro. Catherine Button Campe joined the Alumni Council in 2003 as the 1990s decade representative. Later she served as the Charlotte area representative. For the past two years, Campe served as vice president and has chaired the special events committee which helps plan and organize events and activities for Alumni Frolic Week and Homecoming. Lynn Swisher Neese, of Greensboro, joined the council in 2005 as the Piedmont area representative and has hosted alumni events at her home for several years. She also serves on the planning committee for Alumni Frolic Week. Jennifer Baker serves as Secretary and is the chair for the admissions committee of the Alumni Council. She helps recruit students at college fairs in her area and is an elementary school teacher in Marietta, Georgia. This slate of officers was presented by the nominating committee for election at the annual meeting of the Alumni Association and approved during Homecoming 2009. The Pinnacles Fall 2009 | 5