Walden University Alumni Association Blog

Walden awards faculty with research grants

To support research that leads to real-world solutions, Walden University awarded four faculty members and six faculty teams the 2009 Faculty Research Initiative Grant, totaling $139,500. With the goal of supporting excellence in scholarly work, the grant program helps fund select faculty research projects that are deemed exceptional in merit. The grants provide seed money for the development of faculty research agendas.

Walden University congratulates the following individuals and research teams for their standout projects:

Assessing a Predictive Modeling Technique for Proactive Patient Management of Diabetes
 
Principal Investigator: Dr. Howard B. Schechtner, School of Management
Co-Principal Investigator: Mr. Nithyanandam Mathiyazhagan, School of Management
Grant Amount: $15,000
Project Abstract: Diabetes affects nearly 25 million Americans and is estimated to cost approximately $125 billion annually. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. The human cost can be measured in terms of hospitalizations, drug costs, amputations, blindness, nerve damage, pain management and other health problems. The societal cost is in the trillions of dollars and is stressing a health care system whose costs are soaring. This study will create and assess predictive models for patients to proactively treat their blood sugar levels. It is difficult for patients to predict blood sugar as current technology gives them only a momentary reading without indicating whether levels are rising or falling. If insulin boluses are injected when sugars are high but actually falling, a serious hypoglycemic event requiring hospitalization could transpire. The model will take into account a number of variables such as insulin dose, blood sugar level, food intake (grams of carbohydrates), calories consumed, food timing, physical activity, type of activity, duration of activity, time of day, day of week and historical blood sugar readings. These explicit and tacit knowledge variables will guide the creation of the predictive model. The goal of the research is to tighten the control of blood sugar range which typically means reducing the running average of blood sugar level readings and reducing high and low readings. The theoretical basis for the study rests with Nonaka and Takeuchi’s Spiral Process Theory of Knowledge which will guide the creation of the model. This knowledge-based, technology-leveraged approach has the goal of greater adherence to self-controlled diabetes management through tacit and explicit knowledge conversion and internalization.
 
Formative Research to Identify Barriers to Completing Prenatal Care Services in HIV-Positive Communities in Rural South India
 
Principal Investigator: Dr. Vishnu-Priya Sneller, College of Health Sciences
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Raghu Korripati, School of Management
Grant Amount: $20,000
Project Abstract: The study proposes to use qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the prenatal services available to women in rural India. In collaboration with a local non-government agency that provides HIV prevention services in three different settings in Andhra-Pradesh. Participants will be residents from communities where HIV is known to be present. Participating communities will be identified by locating HIV-positive women who were lost to follow-up during the third trimester of pregnancy and missed an opportunity to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV. The project proposes to use qualitative and quantitative methods to identify barriers to prenatal care and health status of HIV-positive women who were lost to follow-up. Qualitative methods will use focus groups and non-structured interviews. The quantitative method will use structured interviews. Focus groups composed of women 16 years and older and couples from these communities will inform the development of communication messages and print material promoting prenatal care. Focus groups will also be used to develop the questionnaire, which will be used for individual interviews. Women 16 years and older from these communities will participate voluntarily in the structured individual interviews. Univariate and logistic regression models will be used to describe the barriers to prenatal care and risk for HIV infections in these communities.
 
About the Faculty Research Initiative Grant
The Faculty Research Initiative Grant program is open to all faculty who have been employed by Walden for a minimum of six months. Grant funds can be used to support pilot research projects and small-scale research studies, and to supplement new areas of investigation that are spin-off studies or sub-studies of larger ongoing research projects.    

Walden Alumni Author: Dr. Janet Cunningham

The Upward Spiral: Breakthroughs to Joy
Dr. Janet Cunningham, Ph.D. in Human Services graduate
Two Suns Press, 2009

This novel, Janet Cunningham’s first, describes the lives of three women who face life challenges and move through them to greater happiness. Everyone has events in life that jolt their emotions and well-being. How we handle these occurrences determines whether we “spiral upward,” growing through the experience into greater joy and fulfillment, or “spiral downward” into sadness, anger or hopelessness. This book is filled with valuable information and insight into relationships, weight management and feminine intuitive nature.

Walden ConnectEd: Mentoring Relationships Help Both Participants

Both teachers and students can benefit from mentors, but the challenge lies in how to find or become one, because the very nature of mentors is rooted in an organic process.

When seeking a mentor, having a specific project or idea you need guidance with can be helpful. Scott Key, a lawyer and an instructor at Mercer University, says mentors have been very important for his professional development. “In school, mentors were key professors whose counsel I sought for writing suggestions, vocational discernment and practical advice,” he said.

By the time Ethel Jameson walked into Meredith Gardner’s life, Jameson had already retired from the teaching profession. But that did not mean she was done educating.
 
Jameson, who was Gardner’s nanny and later French tutor, eventually became Gardner’s mentor. “She personified so many values that I learned at a young age. She got bumped up from a tutor to a mentor. Little did I know that she would be setting the stage for me to learn what it was like to have a mentor and the consequences of such a privilege.”

Gardner, decades after Jameson became her mentor, found herself using the experience in her professional life. She started the Future Manager’s Program at the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City. When it comes to mentors, the key distinction is between formality and informality, says Gardner.
 
“From the mentor point of view, I recommend that the mentors choose to participate,” adds Gardner. “Even if there are fewer than you hope for or expect, the people who show up want to be there, making their impact even stronger and memorable.”

Gardner learned that lesson the hard way with the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s program, in which they assigned mentors to mentees. “We ended up assigning people through having a formal program. The learning was that most people were too busy to give quality time.”

During the process, Gardner also has learned there are important qualities that mentors should posses. Whether looking for a mentor or trying to become one, it is important to be honest. “There is an openness and vulnerability that develops on both sides. When the relationship is developed with skill, the unfolding is miraculous,” she says. “There is no blame or retaliation.”

Persistence is another key. “Being a mentor means being the demonstration of the ability to break through frustrations to convert reality into dreams. It’s a ‘stick-to-it-ivness’ that just won’t go away.”

Other actions Gardner stresses are listening with undivided attention, giving judgment-free respect and honoring the responsibilities of the mentor role, such as showing up at scheduled meetings.

And, of course, there is always the function of inspiration. Gardner says when the mentor inspires someone, there is an energy surge in the mentee. “A new unimagined life course is set in motion, smashing preconceived notions,” she says. “This allows for a movement forward and might not happen without the encouragement of the mentor.”

Perhaps the best thing about the mentor system is it can start a chain reaction: The mentees often become mentors. Decades after Jameson entered her life, Gardner is a mentor to two younger women.

Visit ConnectEd to read more education-related articles.

Walden Alumni and Students in the News

“It was something I always wanted to do...I decided that it would be easier to make a difference teaching kids like me [with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder and other learning challenges]...I like this even better because I can help even more kids.”
—Greg Johnson, a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) student, discussing his motivation for getting involved in special education in an Aug. 1, 2009, article in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Lockport, N.Y.  

“I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to serve with the men and women of the 106th Rescue Wing and their families during this time of war for our nation and state. Their service and sacrifice went far beyond what was expected, and I will always remember what they did so ‘that others may live.’”
—Michael Canders, a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences graduate, on leaving command of the 106th Rescue Wing to assume command of an overseas Air Expeditionary Group, in a press release from the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.  

“I realized that my success was up to me...There is a chance of minimizing the effects of drug addiction in Baltimore, but it will take a strong community effort that involves law enforcement, educators, medical professionals, legislators and community residents.”
—Michael Murrell, a Ph.D. in Public Health student, in an article on Examiner.com.

“...[W]e can learn so much from the younger set. We have to stop dictating and start listening...The most important message is to avoid stereotyping and to embrace the gifts each generation has to offer.”
—Geneva Craig, a 2004 Ph.D. in Health Services graduate, in an article on generational differences in nursing published in Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Dome.  

“There [are] a lot of great things happening in education, and there’s a lot that still could get better...I was having to teach kids to read faster and put words into blanks, but that is teaching kids to take tests, not learn.”
—Malinda Daniel, a Ph.D. in Education graduate, discussing her new book, Fallacy or Truth: The State of American Education Today (Highway, 2009), in an Aug. 31 article in The Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence, Kan.

Walden Student: Tania Harman, Indiana Teacher of the Year (2009)

Walden University is proud to have more than 20 state teachers of the year—including Tania Harman, education doctoral—currently working toward advanced degrees at its Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership.

When Tania Harman was a child, education was not a priority—for her parents. But that didn’t stop her from gravitating toward everything having to do with learning. “I loved school. From the time I was in kindergarten, I told everyone I was going to grow up and be a teacher,” she says. “School was a place where I felt safe and at ease. It was something I was good at.”

Her parents just didn’t get it. Neither one had graduated high school and discouraged her from going to college, even refusing to fill out financial aid forms. Says Harman: “They thought it was a waste of time and money—they thought I thought I was better than everyone else.”

Today, as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at Warren Primary Center in South Bend, Indiana, Harman works tirelessly to make sure that her students feel encouraged to excel—both by their teachers and by their parents. Support, she believes is something that ESL students need more than most kids. “These are kids who suddenly were taken out of everything they knew and loved and brought to a whole new country,” she says. “They have vastly different needs.”

Harman began her career in the late 1980s as a general education teacher at the elementary level, but when her district went through a restructuring in 2003, two-thirds of the area’s teachers had to change jobs. During the transition period, she applied to teach first grade and ended up being handed an ESL slot. “I immediately loved it,” she says. She amped up her skills by returning to school to add an ESL endorsement to her license, and then started studying Spanish in order to facilitate easier conversation with parents. All of these steps are in line with her belief that constant self-improvement and continuing education are musts for teachers. “You cannot stay in your classroom and isolate yourself from your colleagues,” she says. 

Harman’s career at Walden is just another way in which she feels she can work to ensure that she’s giving all she can to her students—and to their families. She’s constantly impressed with the devotion of ESL students’ families to their children’s education and how their interest impacts students’ performances. “Their families are so appreciative of everything I do, and overall very supportive,” she says. “I actually get to spend my day teaching, not disciplining, because these are families that have placed different expectations on their children.”

For Harman, a good education means teaching kids’ families as well: In her role as an ESL teacher, she has worked with some parents to help them become citizens. Her own parents were never encouraged to see the value of schooling—Harman wants to make sure her students have families that are better aware of the fact that a good education is invaluable, especially when injecting a child into a new culture. “A teacher can’t do it alone. There has to be a partnership with the family. You have to make connections in the community to support what you’re doing in the classroom. We all need to work together to support student learning,” she says. Her approach is working: Last year, almost every one of her students graduated from bilingual classes into general education classes. Says Harman: “I’m kind of working myself out of a job!

Walden Community News

Walden’s students, faculty and staff are contributing to their disciplines through publications, presentations and other professional activities.

Dr. Lorraine Cleeton and Dr. Gil Cleeton, faculty members in The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, published Controlling the Levees of the Mind (Adaptability, 2009).
 
Erikson Daniel Conkling, a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration student, has begun a faculty professor of social and behavioral sciences position at the Logansport, Ind., campus of Ivy Tech Community College.
 
Todd Daniel, a Ph.D. in Psychology student, was awarded the 2009 Best Student Poster Presentation for his poster, "On Thin Ice: Listening to Methamphetamine Users in the Ozarks," at the Walden University summer residency held at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
 
Jacqueline Derby, a faculty member in The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, presented “Second Life: What Type of Professional Development Is Available?” at the 30th Annual National Educational Computing Conference in Washington, DC, on June 30, 2009.

Dr. Nicholas Johns, a faculty member in the College of Management and Technology, co-published “Building Reflective Practitioners on Business Programmes: An Action Research Study” in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education.
 
Dr. Bernice Kennedy, a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences, published “Psychosocial Model: Racism as a Predictor of Adherence and Compliance to Treatment and Health Outcomes Among African Americans” (Journal of Theory Construction & Testing, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2009).
 
Dr. Anthony Leisner, a faculty member in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, co-published “Alleviating Poverty: A Macro/Micro Marketing Perspective” in Macromarketing (Sage Publications, 2009).

Dr. Jason Seacat, a faculty member in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, co-published two articles: “Dental Students Treating Patients Living With HIV/AIDS: The Influence of Attitudes and HIV Knowledge” (Journal of Dental Education, Vol. 73, Issue 4, 2009) and “Stereotype Threat and the Exercise/Dietary Health Intentions of Overweight Women” (Journal of Health Psychology, May 2009).
 
Dr. Carl Sheperis, a faculty member in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, co-published Counseling Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods (Pearson, 2010).
 
Dr. Jeff Snodgrass, a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences, co-published “Faculty Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Program Directors' Leadership Styles and Outcomes of Leadership” in the Journal of Allied Health (Vol. 37, 2008).
 
Dr. Janice Spangenburg, a faculty member in the College of Management and Technology, co-published “Leadership and the Future: Gen Y Workers and Two-Factor Theory” in the September 2009 issue of The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge.

Walden Think+Up Case Study "Restoring Wildlands: Two Business Models"

Many Americans think of parks and rainforest when they think of Costa Rica—an exotic vacation destination with scuba diving and hiking. But not too long ago, the only creatures hiking through a large swath of northwest Costa Rica were farmers and cows.

Originally wooded with dry forest, cloud forest, and rain forest, by the 1960s and ‘70s, most of the land had become dry savanna. But from one couple's initiative and a many private donations, 500 miles of savanna has been restored into national parkland.

Restoration minimalism
Dan Janzen, the field biologist, who, along with his wife, fellow field biologist, Winnie Hallwachs, pioneered the effort to restore the land, said the most important thing they needed to do to restore the land was to buy it.

“We don't plant any trees,” Janzen says, “wind and animals bring the seeds. We don't plant anything. What you have to do is stop anybody or anything from stopping animals.”

Of course, the reality is somewhat more complex. The Area de Conservacion Guanacaste has a staff of 150 people and an operating budget of about $1.5 million. Among other projects, the staff fights fires, researches wildlife, educates students in the surrounding areas about biology, and yes, in some areas, even plants some trees.

But Janzen says all that is practically beside the point. “Biologically, restoration is a breeze,” he says. “If you're willing to let a large area restore itself, that will happen.

“The real world is that every square foot out there is owned by someone,” Janzen says, and they're using it for something. If you want to use it for something else, for instance, if you want to let the forest grow back, you just buy the land.

William Allen documented the restoration process in his book Green Phoenix: Restoring the Tropical Forests of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. “The restoration effort was incredibly successful,” says Allen. “There’s been nothing like it anywhere, as far as I’ve been able to learn by talking with a wide range of leading and lesser tropical ecologists who know this world.”

Janzen says in another 100 years, the average observer would never know there had been anything but forest on the land. (He says it'll take about 500 years for the true balance to be restored.)

He raised most of the money to buy the land through private donations—although he worked with the Costa Rican government, and the park continues to be run in cooperation with the government. But he says whether you raise money through tax dollars or private investment or winning the lottery is irrelevant.

A wider look
A more important question might be whether this model—large-scale buy back of degraded landscapes for the purpose of restoration—can be repeated successfully elsewhere.

One of the elements that made Janzen's plan for restoration possible was that undisturbed parts of the forest remained. Janzen says almost all the old species still existed in pockets on the land. Perhaps equally crucial, Janzen was able to buy a large enough amount of land to allow the natural process of succession to restart.

Allen says Janzen was helped by the fact that “in the 1980s the farm economy, especially for cattle production, was experiencing a major economic downturn, and many folks were glad to sell off and get out. For many of them, the restoration project’s interest in buying their land was a godsend. The restoration project was fortunate to have such an economic scenario make the land relatively available.”

But in other places, agriculture is still profitable, or the land has been used for other reasons, like building people's homes. Those owners might not be so interested in selling—or the price might be too high no matter how many people click on the donation button.

This, says Rob French, is largely the case in the Florida Everglades. What was once a “river of grass”—a wetland that covered much of south Florida—now contains cities, roads, sugar plantations, and farms.

In order to make the swampy land ready for development, the army corps of engineers built canals, dykes and levees, and engineered the water to flow where they wanted, when they wanted.

French, an environmental engineer who has spent much of his 30-plus-year career in Florida, says he  “thinks it is virtually an impossible task now to go back and restore the Everglades.” He says the best shot is to try to fix some of the damage.
 
For instance, the water quality in Everglades estuaries has been deteriorating, because of the way the water flow has been controlled. During the  rainy season, water is stored in Lake Okeechobee until it reaches a certain level, at which point water is released toward the ocean. But the stored water is freshwater, and when a large amount blasts through the brackish estuaries (a mix of salt and freshwater), it changes the salt content of the estuaries. It essentially kills everything in there, says French.

A solution along the lines of the Guanacaste restoration project would be for someone to buy up all the land and destroy all the levees, dykes, and canals to restore water flow to its natural state.

Restoration buy-back in Florida
In some places, this is exactly what the Everglades restoration project, funded through a joint agreement with the federal government and the state of Florida, is doing.

Randy Smith, media relations specialist for the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), gives an example: Picuyune Strand, in southwest Florida, a 55,000 acre tract bought by developers in the 1950s and ‘60s that was going to be a city. The owners went bankrupt, Smith says, but before they did, they put in roads and dug canals. Smith says, “the state of Florida bought that and we have been very successful in filing in one of the canals, and removing roads and the handful of houses that were there. And in the areas where we've gone in and filled up the canal, the sheet flow of water has gone back to a normal state.”

Engineering restoration
But Fred Sklar, the director of the SFWMD's Everglades division says, “we often find that it's very hard to just let nature take its course.” For instance, he says, thanks to invasive species like the Brazilian pepper, the ecology is changing. Invasive plants and animals crowd out the ones that lived there naturally—and that can have consequences all the way up the food chain, when animals can no longer find as much of what they’re used to eating. “Right now nature is having a hard time, and it's on a trajectory that often it means we have to go in and do something actively.”

So to improve water quality in the estuaries, the SFWMD is engineering a new system of storage and release that would vent the water in a more natural cycle, rather than in bursts. Their approach has its critics. Stuart Pimm, a conservation ecologist at Duke University says that, with the billions of tax dollars being spent—current estimates hover around $10–12 billion—they could absolutely do more.

Pimm says real restoration requires restoring the natural flow, not building ever more complex systems to manage the water in new ways. He calls the restoration at Guanacaste “spectacular” but says, “what's happening in Everglades is really a very, very different kind of event.”

Ultimately, SFWMD's Sklar says, “I think the idea that we are just engineering restoration rather than allowing nature to take its course is something that we struggle with everyday. We always are trying to create an environment where we can let nature take its course.”

To read more case studies, visit Think+Up.

Walden Think+Up: MEDEX Global Group, Inc "Turnaround" and "Acquisitions"

MEDEX Global Group's president and CEO, Bruce Kirby, CPA, FLMI, speaks about the company's turnaround and their acquisition strategy.





Visit Think+Up to view other management and technology related videos.

Walden Alumni Author: Dr. Nancy Appleton

Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction
Nancy Appleton '96, Ph.D. in Health Services
Square One Publishers, 2009
 
Once associated only with cavities and simple weight gain, sugar is now linked to a host of devastating health conditions including cancer, epilepsy, dementia, hypoglycemia and obesity. In Suicide by Sugar, sugar addiction expert Dr. Nancy Appleton and health writer G. N. Jacobs not only expose the exorbitant levels of sugar we ingest but also document the connection between our current health crisis and our collective sweet tooth. Suicide by Sugar begins with the story of Dr. Appleton’s battle with her own sugar addiction. Next, the authors examine all the frightening (and unknown) things that can go wrong when people consume too much sugar, from increased susceptibility to disease to imbalanced body chemistry. They go on to discuss the various ways scientists measure sugar’s impact on blood glucose and explain why these statistics cannot be solely relied on when choosing foods. The authors provide shocking information about the amount of sugar found in many popular foods and beverages and an in-depth discussion of the ailments now associated with excessive sugar consumption. Finally, Dr. Appleton’s easy-to-follow, effective lifestyle plan—complete with recipes—guides you in eliminating sugar from your life.

Walden Community News

Walden’s students, faculty and staff are contributing to their disciplines through publications, presentations and other professional activities.

Cherri Brown, a Ph.D. in Psychology student, was invited to the Association for Conflict Resolution’s Ninth Annual Conference poster presentation on Oct. 9, 2009, in Atlanta. Her topic was “Grandparents Parenting: Mediation Needs for Public Education.”
 
Dr. Tom Cavanagh, a faculty member in The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, published “Creating a New Discourse of Peace in Schools: Restorative Justice in Education” (The Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, Vol. 18, Issue 1/2, 2009) and co-published “Te Kotahitanga: Addressing Educational Disparities Facing Maori Students in New Zealand” (Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 25, Issue 5, 2009).
 
John E. Cech, a Ph.D. in Education student, published “Dual Enrollment, Multiple Paths and Diverse Students: A Look at Options for Enhancing Entry Into Postsecondary Education” in the Spring 2009 issue of The Montana Professor.
 
Summer Clayton, a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) student, has been named director of the Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning in Moscow, Idaho, a public charter school that is based on Outward Bound’s Expeditionary Learning Schools model.

Dr. Ron Hirschbein, a faculty member in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, published “Nuclear Strategists in Wonderland” in Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy (Wiley, 2010).
 
Dr. Ronald P. Hudak, a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences, co-published “The U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2): A Case Study in Designing a Nonmedical Case Management Program for Severely Wounded, Injured, and Ill Service Members and Their Families” in the June 2009 issue of Military Medicine.
 
Sonya Jackson, a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) student, was selected as interim school superintendent of Hernando County Schools, Hernando County, Fla.

Raymond Marbury, a Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) student, was hired as a management analyst in the Internal Revenue Service Chief Counsel's Office. In addition, he is serving as an adjunct professor at Shenandoah University, Winchester, Va.
 
Dr. Darlington Mgbeke, a faculty member in the Center for Undergraduate Studies, published “The Dynamics of Inept Administrative Leadership In Nigeria Public Sector: A Guide To Civic Engagement” (International Culture Journal, Vol. 2, Issue 2, 2009).

Dr. Robert Parent, a faculty member in the College of Management and Technology, published “Approaches to Measurement” in Knowledge Translation in Health Care: Moving From Evidence to Practice (Wiley, 2009).
 
Dr. Cheryl Parker, a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences, co-published “Moving Along: Using Mobility Technology to Improve Pharmacist Workflow in the PICU Rounding Process” in the fall 2008 issue of The Journal of Healthcare Information Management and “Mobile Device Improves Documentation Workflow and Nurse Satisfaction” in the summer 2008 issue of CARING Newsletter.

Walden offering post-Master's Principal Licensure program

Walden University’s new Education Specialist (Ed.S.) in Educational Leadership and Administration (Principal Preparation) program is designed to enable educators to advance their careers while developing the knowledge, skills, and experience to become a licensed principal or administrator in P–12 schools.

Offered through Walden’s Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, this unique scholar-practitioner post-master’s degree program, grounded in current research, provides students with opportunities to respond to authentic case studies, participate in school leadership experiences, work side by side with principal mentors, and develop the ability to impact social change.

“Walden’s Ed.S. in Educational Leadership and Administration program is preparing the next generation of P–12 school administrators and principals to truly impact the future success of our nation’s education system,” said Dr. Kate Steffens, dean of Walden’s Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership. “Graduates of the program will be equipped to promote the success of every student and guide other professionals in the pursuit of excellence in education.”

Walden Student: Cathy Marziali, DoD Teacher of the Year (2008)

Walden University is proud to have more than 20 state teachers of the year—including Cathy Marziali, education doctoral student—currently working toward advanced degrees at its Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership.

There's an Italian proverb that reflects the life philosophy of longtime educator Cathy Marziali: La famiglia è la patria del cuore—family is the homeland of the heart. In Marziali's case, however, "family" doesn't just mean her husband and two children: It's a word that encompasses all the small people who've entered her classroom in the last two decades.

"It's always important to me to build a sense of community. When school starts, I tell my kids and their families, 'When you walk into this classroom, we treat each other like family. We're here to help each other,’" says Marziali. Her mothering, tender approach to working with kids is only part of the reason that she was named the 2008 Teacher of the Year representing the Department of Defense Education Activity.

The idea of becoming a teacher first occurred to Marziali when she was just eight years old—it was largely thanks to a teacher she'd had who was extra maternal. "My third grade teacher was wonderful," she recalls. "She was the kind of teacher who gives you those warm feelings. She built the kind of relationships that are so important in a classroom when you want to get kids to learn. I wanted to be just like her."

After graduating with a degree in psychology and then spending some post college years in Italy (where she met her husband), Marziali returned home to Hanford, California, and answered an ad placed by a local school. When they found out she spoke Italian, they told her to take classes to get credentialed and asked her to work with Spanish-speaking elementary school children in order to help transition them into mainstream English classrooms. She didn't speak any Spanish, but by semester's end she knew enough to do conferences without a translator. "The kids taught me," she says.

Most of what she's learned about teaching has been ascertained on the job. "My teaching was all through games and song. Little kids, they're sponges," she says. Her experience as a mother has also informed her work in the classroom. "A lot of teaching foreign language comes from what parents do automatically. Just look at someone talking to a baby. You say, 'Oh, look. Look at the ball. See how it bounces.' That stuff comes to us naturally, I think."

Marziali has worked extensively in bilingual classrooms. In 2004, she moved to Italy to teach Spanish and Italian to English-speaking children of American military personnel stationed there. This year, she moved again—this time to Germany, where she is working as an assistant principal at an American Department of Defense school.

At Walden University, Marziali is studying educational technology. She believes that educators shouldn't malign technological advances. "There are these rules about not having your cell phone at school or taking your iPod out of your bag, but if these are things that kids are using, then why should we confiscate them? We need to find ways to integrate them into the curriculum," she says.

For several years, she's been teaching a computer program that is most often seen in business meetings: PowerPoint. Even with this, there is a family element: At the end of last year, Marziali had her first graders give PowerPoint slideshows about their lives and their families at an assembly with their parents—in Italian, no less.

At the end of his presentation, one shy boy started crying. "I couldn't figure out why he was so upset, so I went over to see him, and he said he was crying because he was gonna miss me," Marziali recalls. The moment turned into a group hug.

Visit ConnectEd to read other education-related articles.

Walden awards faculty with research grants (pt. 2)

To support research that leads to real-world solutions, Walden University awarded four faculty members and six faculty teams the 2009 Faculty Research Initiative Grant, totaling $139,500. This year’s grants support research projects ranging from determining the predictors of prejudice to identifying prenatal-care barriers in rural south Indian HIV-positive communities. With the goal of supporting excellence in scholarly work, the grant program helps fund select faculty research projects that are deemed exceptional in merit. The grants provide seed money for the development of faculty research agendas.
 
Walden University congratulates the following individuals and research teams for their standout projects:

Utilization of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Title I, Part A Stimulus Funds: Translations of Federal, State and District Policy to Action
 
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Phyllis Durden, The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Paula Dawidowicz, The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership
Grant Amount: $18,000
Project Abstract: It is unclear how local districts interpret local guidelines for the use of federal funding and, as a result, the impact those funds have on students’ performance and/or school climate. With the introduction of the short-term, nonrenewable American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Policy, and economic stimulus funds for Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), understanding the factors impacting interpretation of these initiatives, their implementation and their ultimate educational impact becomes particularly important to ensure the funds’ impacts are maximized. The purpose of the proposed research is to conduct a multiple case study of the implementation process of those stimulus funds allocated for school improvement in terms of the selections made for utilization of funds. The independent variables are the school improvement initiatives funded by the ARRA Title I, Part A funds. The intervening variables are the socioeconomic level (as measured by the Free and Reduced Price Lunch percentage) and the cultural attitudes in the locations. The dependent variables are student achievement and school climate. Data sources will include several annual government reports and archived data, surveys and interviews. Analysis will be accomplished through use of both SPSS and NVivo software and will include ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis of quantitative data and open coding and axial coding to identify themes and patterns in qualitative data, as well as integration of quantitative and qualitative data, to draw overall conclusions. Through this research, greater understanding of the funding to implementation process, intervening factors and potential results of short-term funding in Title I, Part A programs can develop and, as a result, refinement of policy and process can occur.
 
Evaluating the Impact of Community Leadership: Researching Leadership Development Outcomes
 
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Janice Garfield, The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Kurt Schoch, The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership
Grant Amount: $18,500
Project Abstract: Community-based leadership development projects exist in many communities, small and large, across the United States and in other countries. Recent literature, such as the 2002 report of research sponsored by the Kellogg Foundation, attempted to discern the impact of community-based leadership development programs. Sogunro’s (1997) study of a leadership development program in Alberta, Canada showed increases in leadership knowledge and behavior for participants in a rural leadership education program, based on responses from recent and long-term graduates. The purpose of this research is to expand on previous work and compare and contrast three existing leadership development initiatives (Leadership New Haven [Conn.], Leadership Johnson County [Ind.] and Leadership Lynchburg [Va.]) to identify key factors in their success and overall impact. This project also expands the related research presented at the Walden University Poster Session conducted at the January 2009 residency and faculty meeting titled “Evaluating the Impact of Community Leadership.”
 
This multiple case-study research will use elements of the CIPP (Context Input Process Product) model of program evaluation, while using the structure and core values of the Baldrige National Quality Program (BNQP) as a conceptual framework. Sources of data will include interviews (with leadership development program participants, planners and stakeholders), observations of program activities, and document review (program materials, needs assessments, educational materials and program evaluations). This approach combines Yin’s concepts of using case studies in evaluation research for both explanation of “presumed causal links” and description of “an intervention and the real-life context in which it” occurs. Data analysis will include description, development of categories and naturalistic generalizations to identify and compare causal links.
 
The aim of this research is to expand the scope of existing community leadership development program evaluation, focusing on the impact of such programs regionally and globally. With the current economic concerns and expanding global markets, even small markets (towns, counties) are becoming concerned about adopting a global perspective. This affects the sustainability of local economies, as they strive to be competitive in a larger, more global economy.
 
Examining Resilience Factors for a Transsexual Woman of Mexican Heritage
 
Principal Investigator: Dr. Stacee Reicherzer, School of Counseling and Social Service
Grant Amount: $9,000
Project Abstract: This single case study will examine resilience factors in the life of a transsexual woman of Mexican ethnic origin who works as a drag performer in an urban area of south Texas. The study’s aim will be to explore real-world examples of marginalization, social opprobrium, strength and resiliency for the purpose of improving community-based intervention and prevention efforts that address suicidality for transgender women of color. Data will be collected through personal interviews with the participant, direct and indirect observations of her drag performances and a review of the artifacts of her life that reveal her story of resilience. Results will be analyzed using NVivo 8 through the use of two case study methods: direct interpretation, in which a single event is reviewed numerous times for the purpose of understanding its importance; and categorical aggregation, in which numbers of specific occurrences are recorded and analyzed. Findings from this research would assist the development of better counseling and human services for the transgender community, potentially resulting in a reduction in transgender suicide rates through the use of evidence-based interventions.
 

Walden introduces new Accounting degree

Walden’s School of Management has added a B.S. in Accounting to its portfolio of business and management programs. The bachelor’s program, aligned with the standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), offers students the unique opportunity to explore the role of accounting in business before learning to use actual accounting tools.
 
“While a number of accounting programs delve immediately into creating and manipulating accounting tools, we wanted to give our students a broader business perspective,” said William Schulz, Ph.D., interim associate dean of the School of Management. “Our learning approach gives students a stronger foundation in understanding the many issues facing professionals in accounting, including the ethical implications of decision-making.”
 
Through the B.S. in Accounting, students can:

• Gain a deeper understanding of the role of accounting and the importance of learning how to influence financial strategy, as well as the context behind the use of accounting tools such as financial statements

• Strengthen their decision-making and problem-solving skills as they relate to interpreting business and accounting information

• Become proficient in many of today’s most popular accounting software programs through hands-on case studies and team projects

• Build on previous business and accounting experience with best practices in accounting functions, based on the most recent publication and codification of standards by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

Walden Think+Up Case Study: The Growing Backlash Against Outsourcing

In a climate of economic entropy, many corporate pundits view outsourcing and globalization as necessary evils. They are seen as the alternative strategies that can rescue the bottom line by cutting operating costs, yet at the same time, they often coldly ax once-stable American jobs.

How are corporate honchos grappling with this catch-22? With caution, says Atul Vashishta, the CEO of neoIT, a leading global outsourcing advisory and management consultancy, based in San Ramon, California.

“The reason businesses are outsourcing now is because they’re competing with other companies that have a lower cost base elsewhere,” says Vashishta, who co-authored The Offshore Nation: Strategies for Success in Global Outsourcing and Offshoring (McGraw-Hill, 2006). “When the economy is not growing, the human impact is tremendous. People are being laid off, and there is significantly lowered compensation for them.”
 
Within the past three years, offshore outsourcing has become a catalyst for the productivity and growth of some struggling corporations, Vashishta says. CEOs are hiring service and technical professionals to take advantage of the low wages paid in some developing nations, while simultaneously slashing jobs on the home front. Recent college graduates from China, India, and the Philippines are being recruited to do the twice the amount of work as American employees, for about one-fifth the pay.

“The downturn has put higher pressure on lowering costs, and companies are desperately outsourcing because their volume is falling,” Vashishta says. “On the flipside, in an economic environment like this, these decisions become more difficult for companies, because workers that are laid off have a much harder time finding something else afterwards.”

Globalization and Greed at a Glance
In January, BDO Seidman, one of the nation’s most renowned consulting and accounting organizations, conducted its annual “Technology Outlook Survey: Economic Climate Affects International Growth Plans.” The aim: to evaluate America’s current demand for outsourcing and to gain insight into how intelligently businesses are handling it.

Researchers tapped 100 chief financial officers (CFOs) at technology companies throughout the U.S. and found that nearly two-thirds of them were outsourcing services or manufacturing. The companies in the random sample all had revenues of up to $30 billion, according to Doug Sirotta, the head of BDO Seidman’s West Region tax practice and an advisor to companies in the technology and manufacturing sectors.

One-third of survey respondents said their primary concern about international growth was the shaky business and political atmosphere. Because of this collective hesitancy to globalize, international outsourcing could be on the downswing this year as CFOs push for more in-country options, Sirotta says.

Less than half of the CFOs in the survey claimed they held operations outside U.S. boundaries, compared to nearly double that amount the previous year. Twenty-two percent said they were inclined to seek outsourcing avenues inside American territory, as opposed to combing China and India for workers.

“We are seeing global factors that are causing U.S. technology companies to pull back from traditional outsourcing locations,” Sirotta says. “These range from terrorist attacks in India to shipping cost issues in China.”

Seeking an in-country approach
Of late, the most common non-U.S. locations for outsourcing are India (50%); Southeast Asia, including the Philippines (31%, down from 50% in 2008); China (19%, down from 46% in 2008); and Western Europe (19%), the BDO Seidman report states.

If American companies can afford to keep outsourcing within country lines, the U.S. economy will enjoy greater buoyancy and fewer jobs will be lost, Sirotta says. While global outsourcing can result in greater labor savings for some companies, the long-term cons may actually outweigh the pros, Vashishta says.

Executives are looking deeper at the potential effects offshore outsourcing could have on their corporate reputations. In the short-run, CEOs may earn more money by taking advantage of cheap wages overseas, but they may also be scrimping on their quality of staff and, ultimately, losing worldwide prestige.

Still, Procter & Gamble, Cisco Systems, DuPont, and Marriott have respectively struck billion-dollar outsourcing deals in recent years with India, Mexico, and the Philippines. Information technology companies, from IBM Global Services to Microsoft, as well as Fortune 500 companies such as American Express, Citibank, Bank of America, and General Electric, are all firmly on the outsourcing bandwagon. Meanwhile, disgruntled American employees are waving farewell to their overseas-bound jobs and an anti-globalization uproar is brewing.

Outsourcing on the outs
Before it folded in 2007, the Organization for the Rights of American Workers (TORAW) spoke out against this type of American job give away. TORAW held a two-day demonstration in 2002 outside the Strategic Outsourcing Conference at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City to protest rampant outsourcing.

Today, the American Rights Network, a nonprofit organization that supports workers’ rights to free choice, is standing up against outsourcing alongside advocacy groups like the Coalition for the Future American Worker.

One of the looming questions among protestors is this: When it comes to job loss in America, should the blame be placed solely on cash-hungry corporations? Vashishta says no. The burden, he says, belongs to the government and the individuals, too.

“There has to be a renewed focus in our country regarding how we take on roles that may be getting globalized,” Vashishta says. “How do we take those workers and skill sets and transition them to jobs that are much more in demand in the U.S.? By creating new industries.”

Possible jobs in the fields of social services, education, and biotechnology are becoming more available, and it is up to the government to continue offering companies incentives to retain American employees. If a worker is laid off from the automobile industry, for example, the parent corporation should compensate that employee for schooling so that he or she may enter another industry with comparable skills. Out-placement, extended severance packages, and retraining opportunities must all be part of that bargain, Vashishta says.

“The government has to come up with a tax credit to make businesses grow—and make it possible for employees to move from one industry to another,” Vashishta says. “Outsourcing is creating a much bigger human impact right now than people may even realize.”

To read more case studies, visit Think+Up.

Walden Think+Up: MEDEX Global Group, Inc "Risk Assessment"

Tom Winn, senior chief of operations and intelligence at ASI Group, a MEDEX Global Group company, speaks on their risks assessment process.



Visit Think+Up to view other management and technology related videos.

Walden grad elected president of national health organization

Dr. Bruce Dart, who earned a Ph.D. in Health Services at Walden University in 2005, has been elected president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), an organization that represents local health departments across the United States. Dart formally assumed the duties of president on Aug. 5, 2009, at the organization’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
 
“I am deeply honored to have this opportunity to serve our nation’s local health departments as president of the board of NACCHO,” said Dart. “This is a time of both great struggle and opportunity for health departments across the country. As we come together to address community health issues, the efforts of all who comprise NACCHO will help us on the local level truly make a difference.”
 
A Career Devoted to Public Health
A public health practitioner since 1980, Dart has dedicated his career to improving environmental and social conditions that affect the public’s health. “From the lab, to health inspection, to epidemiology, to managing programs and grants—every position I’ve held has given me an opportunity to grow and develop personally and professionally,” says Dart.
 
Since 2001, Dr. Dart has served 275,000 Nebraskans as the health director of Lincoln and Lancaster counties. He previously served as the director of the Independence (Mo.) Health Department and the Grand Island / Hall County (Neb.) Health Department. Prior to his health director positions, Dart worked in the environmental health, childhood lead poisoning prevention and epidemiology programs at the Douglas County (Neb.) Health Department.
 
Dart’s election comes at a time when health care reform is a top political issue and preventing the spread of diseases like H1N1 and AIDS is a worldwide initiative. “This is a key time to be in a leadership position in health care,” says Dart. “One of my goals is to make public health more visible. The best outcome is that everyone knows the importance of public health and embraces it.”

Social Change Talk with of Walden University President

This is an excerpt from from Walden University president Jonathan Kaplan’s interview in Triple Pundit about Walden’s social change mission.

A few weeks ago, I featured Walden University’s new advertising campaign, centering around their social change-focused brand positioning: “A higher degree. A higher purpose.” I was instantly struck by their TV spot because they put their money where their tagline is in demonstrating the end result of a Walden University degree, and spotlighting the change that is possible when you choose an institution aimed at serving the greater good.

The goal is to attract like-minded individuals whose core values align with Walden’s, and they are, in turn, committed to equipping those agents of change with the practical tools they’ll need toward becoming the leaders of tomorrow. The campaign is inspirational without coming off cheesy, so I decided to learn more about the vision behind it in an informative interview with President, Jon Kaplan. And with the level of dedication they put forth in facilitating avenues for positive change, the next time you meet someone who’s making a difference, they may just have a Walden University diploma hanging on their wall.

I was inspired by your recent campaign with your positioning, “A higher degree. A higher purpose.” Can you please tell us more about why you chose that brand position, and how you are supporting it through your institution?
Social change has been at the heart of our mission at Walden University for nearly 40 years. Part of what drives our students, faculty, staff, and alumni is a shared desire to make a positive difference in their neighborhoods, their communities, their careers, and in the broader world. At Walden, we focus on giving students the skills and knowledge they need to solve real-world problems that can have a positive impact on their communities. Our new campaign is a reflection of some of the outcomes experienced by our students and alumni every day.

To read the rest of the interview, visit Triple Pundit.

Walden Alumni Author: Theresa A. Middleton Brosche

The EKG Handbook
Theresa A. Middleton Brosche '07, MS in Nursing
Jones and Bartlett Publishing, 2010
 
This guide to electrocardiogram (EKG) interpretation is a resource for nurses in the clinical setting. It includes topics such as brief anatomy of the heart, action potential of the cardiac cell, depolarization, repolarization, abnormal electrical conduction pathways, blood flow of the cardiac conduction system, EKG leads and electrical activity, calculations of heart rate, a six-step method for 12-lead EKG analysis, and more.

Walden web site receives "Excellence Award"

I am pleased to share the exciting news that Walden University’s newly re-designed Web site received the 2009 University Standard of Excellence Award from the Web Marketing Association (WMA).

The WMA’s annual WebAward Competition has been setting the standard of excellence for Web site development since 1997. Independent expert judges from around the world reviewed sites in 96 industries and 47 countries. The entries were judged based on design, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, ease of use, and use of technology. Judges evaluated sites against an ever-increasing Internet standard of quality and against peer sites within the candidates’ sectors.

The redesigned home page offers new, user-friendly tools intended to make navigating and exploring the Walden site an easier, more enjoyable experience for visitors. In addition, this student-centered redesign helps prospective students understand the Walden difference of providing innovative learning, effective programs, dedicated support, and a vibrant student community.

Congratulations to my co-workers!This award reflects their hard work and reinforces Walden’s commitment to providing a high-quality experience for everyone in our community.