Higher Education Doctoral Program Produces Faculty, Staff

Members of the Higher Education doctoral program will begin faculty and staff positions this fall. Recent graduates Dr. Lisa Rubin and Dr. Joe Ervin will assume assistant professor and visiting assistant professor positions, respectively. Doctoral candidate Nathan Slife will begin his duties as the Coordinator of the College of Education’s First and Second Year Seminars.

Dr. Lisa Rubin

Dr. Rubin is headed to Kansas State University this fall as an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs. In this role, she will facilitate the department’s efforts in the Student Affairs in Higher Education and College Student Development program. Dr. Rubin graduated from the Higher Education program in 2012 after successfully defending her dissertation, Comparing Division 1A Scholarship andNon-Scholarship Student-Athletes: A Discriminant Analysis of AcademicPerformance. Since graduating, she has maintained an active teaching load at Nevada State College, while assisting with Career Services within UNLV’s Hotel College.

Dr. Joe Ervin

Dr. Ervin will serve as a visiting assistant professor for UNLV’s Academic Success Center (ASC). In this role he will teach the ASC’s First Year Seminar and contribute to the development of the undergraduate experience at UNLV. Dr. Ervin graduated this past May. His dissertation, Runnin’ with the Rebels: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of Highly Identified College Student Sports Fans, examined sports fandom at UNLV. 

Nathan Slife

Nathan Slife has created and taught both First Year Seminar (FYS) and Second Year Seminar (SYS) courses with the College of Education. In this position, Nathan will be responsible for scheduling and teaching courses, hiring instructors, and generating information and data about the FYS and SYS. Nathan successfully presented his dissertation proposal and is currently in the data collection phase.

The FYS is a 2-3 credit general education course requirement that introduces undergraduate students to five specific learning outcomes outlined by the university. The SYS is a 3-credit course that is also a general education requirement. It explores contemporary global society issues presented through relevant and historical literature.

Schraw Garners Associate Editor Appointment

The Department of Educational Psychology & HigherEducation (EPHE) as well the College of Education extends congratulations to Dr. Gregory Schraw on his recent appointment to Associate Editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology. Dr. Schraw has been with UNLV for over a decade serving as Professor of Educational Psychology.  His area of expertise is research methods and cognition. Additionally, Dr. Schraw serves as the Director of the Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment at UNLV in which he is an integral part of the internal research at the university. Dr. Schraw is an accomplished scholar having published extensively in the field, and serving on several editorial boards for Educational Psychology related journals.

The Journal of Educational Psychology is one of the premier publications in the discipline. It is published quarterly by the AmericanPsychology Association (APA) with a stated purpose of  publishing original Educational Psychology related research as well as exceptional reviews and theoretically driven material. 

Prestigious Recognition for EPHE Assistant Professor Relles

Assistant Professor Dr. Stefani Relles was recently honored with a Faculty Opportunity Award for her research project entitled “Write to College”. It is the second such award this year for the Department ofEducational Psychology and Higher Education (EPHE) as fellow colleague Dr.Matthew Bernacki was also recently recognized.

Dr. Relles’ project focuses on the academic under-preparation of low-income students for college writing and their transitions to postsecondary settings. It will be piloted with a cohort of 10 high-achieving students who will matriculate to UNLV in the fall of 2015 from high-poverty public high schools in the Clark County School District.  Dr. Relles’ project is an example of how EPHE faculty members are utilizing their research to cultivate relationships in Las Vegas to work directly to impact our community.

The Faculty Opportunity Awards were created for the purpose of supporting faculty research through financial support with the potential for continued external funding.  The awards come through the Offices of the President, the Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, at a total value of $400,000.  Over 40 faculty members submitted applications for this year’s awards, of which about half of the applicants were selected. Dr. Relles was awarded approximately $19,000 for her research.

EPHE Assistant Professor Earns Distinguished Awards to Aid in Research

Dr. Matt Bernacki

Dr. Matt Bernacki is an Assistant Professor for the EPHE Department, and is one of the most recent additions to the department faculty.  Although new to the department, Dr. Bernacki has already established himself as an outstanding asset to the faculty team.

Recently, Dr. Bernacki has been earned two distinguished awards for his research: The Individual Investigators Award for the 2014 Faculty Opportunity Awards, and the UNLV Doctoral Graduate Research Assistant Competition for 2014-2017.

The Faculty Opportunity Awards were created only two years ago, but for the monumental purpose of supporting faculty research through financial support with the potential for continued external funding.  The awards come through the Offices of the President, the Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and totaled $400,000.  Out of 44 applicants for both Innovation Technology Awards and Individual Investigator Awards, only 23 applicants were chosen. Dr. Bernacki was awarded over $19,000 for his research entitled "Building Capacity for Research on Learning via Analytics and 'Big Data'."

The UNLV Doctoral Graduate Research Assistant Competition for 2014-2017 is highly emulous, and only chooses 40 faculty members/teams  to receive a full-time doctoral graduate assistant for three consecutive academic years.  The GA's are to support the faculty members/teams in their research.  Dr. Bernacki wrote a successful proposal, and will be able to hire a GA to aid him in his research "Educational Datamining Under the Supervision of Learning Theory: A Learning Sciences collaboration Investigating STEM Learning".

EPHE Faculty and Student Recognized for Their Dedication to Education

UNLV COE's Ed. Psych. and Higher Ed. program is distinguishing itself as having top notch faculty and students.  Recently, members of the department have been honored for their service to education.

Dr. Nussbaum with Dean Metcalf

Dr. Michael Nussbaum has been recognized with the UNLV College of Education Distinguished Teacher Award. Dr. Nussbaum has been with the COE for 15 years. His current research is on argumentation and critical thinking, some of which has been published in The Journal of Educational Psychology, among other scholarly publications. Dr. Nussbaum teaches Educational Psychology, Assessment, and Research Methods for UNLV.

Dr. Rosser with Dean Metcalf

Dr. Vicki Rosser is honored with the UNLV Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award. Dr. Rosser studies faculty work-life, satisfaction, morale, and intent to leave; she is highly published in academic journals of Higher Education.  Dr. Rosser currently teaches classes on Governance in Higher Education, as well as the History of Higher Education.

Dr. Watson with Dean Metcalf

Dr. Doris Watson is the recipient of the UNLV Academic Success Center's Teaching Award.  Dr. Watson teaches Higher Education classes focusing on Academic Affairs and Student Learning and Development.  She is currently conducting research on emerging Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), specifically on the students in MSIs.

G.K. Nwosu

Ph.D. Candidate G.K. Nwosu has recently been recognized by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education as a Holmes Scholar. Mr. Nwosu is interested in Intercollegiate Athletics, and is working on his dissertation entitled "Examining Factors Influencing Conference Realignment at NCAA Division-I Institutions."

EPHE's Dr. Eunsook Hong named Associate Editor for the American Educational Research Journal

Dr. Eunsook Hong

Dr. Eunsook Hong was recently named the Associate Editor for the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ).  Dr. Hong is a professor of Educational Psychology at UNLV, and has been published in multiple journals throughout her career, authored the books Preventing Talent Loss and Homework: Motivation and Learning Preferences, and serves as an editorial board member for journals in education, creativity, and giftedness.

The AERJ is ranked 3rd among educational research and education journals, and is one of only six journals published by the American Educational Research Association (AERA).  

"[AERJ] publishes original empirical and theoretical studies and analyses in education.  The editors seek to publish articles from a wide variety of academic disciplines and substantive fields; they are looking for clear and significant contributions to the understanding and/or improvement of educational processes and outcomes." (AERA, 2013)

AERJ has two sections: Teaching, Learning, and Human Development (TLHD) and Social and Institutional Analysis (SIA).  Dr. Hong will specifically be working for the TLHD section of AERJ.

"The AERJ's section on Teaching, Learning, and Human Development (TLHD) publishes research articles that explore the processes and outcomes of teaching, learning, and human development at all educational levels and in both formal and informal settings. This section also welcomes policy research related to teaching, learning, and learning to teach. It publishes articles that represent a wide range of academic disciplines and use a variety of research methods." (AERA, 2013) 

 Congratulations to Dr. Hong and her new accomplishment!