EDUCATION
- PhD, American Studies. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2001.
- MA, Critical Studies of Film and Television. University of California, Los Angeles, 1991.
- BA, English and Film Studies. University of Rochester, New York, 1989.
- Instructional Design Coursework. University of Massachusetts, Boston, 2010.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Assistant Director, The Student Academic Success Center, University of New England, Biddeford ME, 2024 – present.
Managed staff and operations of the Biddeford Campus tutoring center.
Developmental Writing Coordinator, The Student Academic Success Center, University of New England, Biddeford ME, 2015 – June 2024.
Managed developmental writing programs and professional writing support staff. Led redesign of developmental writing courses and reading and writing tutoring practices. Designed, taught, and assessed developmental writing courses including lightweight mainstreaming and stretch models. Developed teaching and learning materials. Monitored student progress. Contributed to academic interventions for at-risk students. Designed and led assessments of programs and courses. Provided professional writing support for developmental writers, undergraduates writing in the humanities, education, social sciences, sciences and health professions, and graduate and professional students. Provided writing and test preparation workshops for education students. Conducted original research and disseminated results at professional development sessions and regional conferences.
Contributed to Profiles of Academically at Risk Students at UNE.
Managed writing placement for between 700 and 900 incoming students annually. Developed new multi-measure writing placement protocols with directed self-placement elements to improve student experiences, retention, performance, and time-to-degree.
Proposed, designed, and piloted a “Bridge to UNE Composition” program for incoming developmental writers aspiring to improve their writing placement.
Proposed, designed, and developed an asynchronous Reading Support Training module to improve the capacity of SASC tutors in all subjects to support active and critical reading.
Planned and delivered professional development for faculty and staff. Provided curriculum, course, and assignment design consultation services to faculty in chemistry, business, psychology, heath wellness and occupational studies, and writing. Contributed to requirements for design of prototype active learning classrooms.
Raised the profile of writing support services through campus-wide events, workshops, and social media campaigns.
Collaborated with learning consultants, instructors, and faculty to foster a writing culture.
College Success Coach/Principal Consultant, CaMDEN College Success Services LLC, Saco, ME, 2008 – 2015.
Tutored students to make the transition to college successfully and to perform at their best once there. Support strategies include tutoring in time-management practices, college reading and writing, study strategies, learning style assessment, goal setting, comparative values analysis, social networking strategies customized for the college environment, academic planning, assignment sequence tracking, weekly work logs, and semi-monthly virtual meetings and academic/social support sessions. Provided early intervention services for potentially at-risk students, including: first generation college students, culturally dislocated students, English language learners, adult learners making the transition from the military or work to college. Designed marketing materials including brochures, slide shows, and websites.
Adjunct Associate Lecturer, English Department, University of New England, Biddeford, ME, 2010 – 2015.
Designed, taught, and assessed first-year writing classes, including sections in the Stretch, Mainstreaming, and Writing Fellows initiatives designed to nurture and support developmental writers. Managed the Writing Fellow. Collaborated with Professional Writing Consultants for SAS 011/ENG 110 linkage. Designed individual and small group tutoring sessions delivered by the Writing Fellow. Tutored individual and small groups of students in reading, writing, and rhetoric. Provided distance writing support for ENG 110 students via Skype, chat/IM, and other LMS/collaboration technologies. Designed and produced materials to support student learning. Maintained accurate records. Developed innovative assessment strategies to lessen student anxieties. Solicited feedback from students on their experience of the learning environment. Collaborated with faculty on assessment, research, and professional development sessions. Attended regional conventions and presented research.
Writing Coach/Freelance Writer/Instructional Designer, Saco, ME, 2008 – present.
Assistant Professor, The George Washington University, University Writing Program, Washington, DC, 2004 – 2009.
Designed, taught, and assessed University Writing 20, including mainstreamed developmental writers. Tutored individual and small groups of students in reading, writing, and rhetoric. Collaborated with faculty to design program assessment, professional development, and capstone events. Attended national conventions and presented research.
Visiting Assistant Professor, The George Washington University, American Studies Department, Washington, DC, 2002 – 04.
Designed and taught American Studies courses and Senior Thesis seminar. Managed and developed teaching assistants. Attended national conventions and presented research.
Faculty, Normandale Community College, Theatre Department, Bloomington, MN, 2001 – 02.
Worked successfully with a wide array of students of diverse abilities, preparation, and backgrounds, including developmental writers, English language learners, adult learners, first-in-family college students, and members of culturally-relocated populations.
Disability Assistant, University of Minnesota, English Department, Minneapolis, MN 1994 – 1999.
Provided teaching and logistical support for a disabled faculty member.
Instructor Trainer and Mentor, University of Minnesota, Composition Program, Minneapolis, MN 1995 – 1996.
Co-designed and -led a course-design seminar for first-time composition instructors, included workshop sessions on: learning goals, assignment sequencing and scaffolding, assignment design, reading selection, learning processes, evaluation, grading, assessment, teaching strategies, and the ethics of teaching. Mentored first-year composition instructors. Designed, delivered, and assessed undergraduate courses in First-Year Writing, and advanced composition, including: Writing for the Humanities, Writing for the Social Sciences, Writing for the Arts, Senior Thesis.
SELECT PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Select Publications
- “Rationality and Privilege in Classic American Robot Stories.” Letterature d’America. n. 166-167 (2017): 37-67. Invited Article. Peer Reviewed.
- Opening the Gates: Moving from Writing Tutorial to First Year Writing. UNE Student Academic Success Center Report, 2015. An evidence-based profile of developmental writers’ traits, needs, and literacy histories, with best practices recommendations for first-year writing faculty.
- College Reading Secrets Your Professor Expects You to Know. CaMDEN College Success Services Ebook, 2014.
- Writing College Research Papers. 2nd edition. Bridgepoint Publishing, 2013.
- “Business Girls and Beset Men in Pulp Science Fiction and Science Fiction Fandom.” femspec: an interdisciplinary feminist journal 7.1 (Fall 2006): 5-35. Nominated for the 2006 Science Fiction Research Association Pioneer Award. Peer reviewed. Reprinted in Gale’s Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.
- “‘A Finer and Fairer Future’: Commodifying Wage Earners in American Pulp Science Fiction.” Endeavour: A Quarterly Magazine Reviewing the History and Philosophy of Science v. 30, n. 3 (September 2006): 92-97. Invited Article. Peer reviewed.
- “Is Clementa Science Fiction?” March 2008. Commissioned essay.
- “Buffy, Who?” Review Essay of Athena’s Daughters, edited by Frances Early and Kathleen Kennedy. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2003. femspec: an interdisciplinary feminist journal 7.2 (Spring 2007): 138-42.
- “Mental Labor and the Cultural Work of Agency Panic.” Review essay of The Twilight of the Middle Class: Post-World War II American Fiction and White-Collar Work by Andrew Hoberek. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. Symploke v. 14, n. 1-2 (2006): 311-15. Invited Review Essay.
- “Interdepartmental Collaboration to Support Student Writing in the General Chemistry Laboratory.” Completed manuscript to be submitted to the Journal of Chemistry Education. With Christopher Ambrose, Melanie di Lorenzo, and Karen Tasker. 2020.
- “The ePortfolio as Gateway for Composition Instruction and the Multimodal Text.” Completed manuscript. With Elisha Emerson and Jennifer Gennaco. 2020.
Select Presentations
- “Engaging Today’s UNE Students.” With Mary Fraser, UNE Student Academic Success Center and Marc Ebenfield, UNE Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. UNE College of Arts and Sciences All Faculty Day and UNE Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Faculty Symposium, May 2022.
- “Understanding UNE’s At-Risk Students.” Delivered to UNE’s Board of Trustees, College of Arts and Sciences, Westbrook College of Health Professions, UNE Enrollment Management Committee, UNE Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, faculty attending UNE Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Professional Development sessions, UNE Professional Advising Department, UNE Libraries, and UNE Athletics Department. With Mary Fraser, Megan Grumbling, Sarah Ross, and Lori Wall. AY 2021.
- “Self-Efficacy as Transformation: Four Studies on Working with Student Writers to Help Them Believe in Themselves.” Content contributor to panel presentation by Michael Cripps, with Jill Dahlman, Catherine Siemann, and John Wolf. 2018 Conference on College Composition and Communication. Kansas City, MO. March 15, 2018.
- “ePortfolios in Developmental Education.” Panel presentation with Michael Cripps. Believe: 2018 National Association for Developmental Education Conference. National Harbor, MD. February 24, 2018.
- “ePortfolios and Agency in First-Year Writing: Empowering Students to Make the Case for Learning.” Panel presentation with Michael Cripps and Jesse Miller. Re-Bundling Higher Education High-Impact ePortfolio Practice and the New Digital Ecosystem Conference. Guttman Community College, CUNY. March 3, 2017.
- “Tacit Knowledge and Transfer: Making Explicit Connections Between Freshman Writing and Writing in Other Courses.” Panel presentation with Michael Cripps and Jennifer Gennaco. Quinnipiac University Writing Across the Curriculum Conference. Nov. 19, 2016.
- “Embedding the Writing Center in First-Year Composition.” Panel presentation with Michael Cripps and Jennifer Gennaco. University of Connecticut Conference on Teaching Writing. March 25, 2016.
- “Opening the Gates: Supporting Developmental Writers in FYC.” Presentation to UNE first-year writing faculty. Jan. 2016.
- “Supporting WAC through Composition: Writing Fellows, Peer Review, and Reading Development.” Panel presentation with Michael Cripps, Cathrine Frank, and Timothy Berrigan. Engaging Practices Conference, University of Massachusetts—Boston. April 26, 2014.
Recent Workshops
- “Time Management.” Study Snippet for UNE Student Academic Success Center. Sept. 2023.
- “Calendaring for College Success.” Study Snippet for UNE Student Academic Success Center. Sept. 2022.
- “Helping Students Read Challenging Texts.” Workshop for UNE Faculty. UNE Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Faculty Symposium, May 2022.
- “Active Reading in The Sciences.” Study Snippet for UNE Student Academic Success Center. With Karen Tasker. Sept. 2021.
- “Active Reading in Psychology.” Study Snippet for UNE Student Academic Success Center. Sept. 2021, 2022, 2023.
- “Active Reading for Guided Undergraduate Studies.” Study Snippet for UNE Student Academic Success Center. Sept. 2021.
- “Task Interpretation and Planning.” Workshop for UNE Student Academic Success Center CRLA Peer Tutor Training. With Megan Grumbling, Sarah Ross, Karen Tasker, and Lori Wall. Aug. 2021.
- “Helping Students Read Difficult Texts.” Workshop for UNE Student Academic Success Center CRLA Peer Tutor Training. Sept. 2019, Aug. 2021. With Allison Neeland (2021).
- “Reflective Writing Rubric and Feedback Strategies.” Developed and delivered professional development workshop for UNE College of Medicine Case-Based Learning facilitators. With Lori Rand. Summer 2021.
- “Coaching the College Admissions Essay.” Designed and delivered workshop to UNE Admissions Counselors hoping to use college admissions essay coaching as a recruitment tool. Spring 2021.
- University of New England Student Academic Success Center Tutor Reading Support Asynchronous Training Module. Fall 2020. https://ericdrown2.uneportfolio.org/reading-support/
- “Advanced Reading Strategies.” Workshop for UNE Student Academic Success Center professional tutors. Oct. 2019.
- “Helping Students Read Difficult Texts.” Workshop for UNE Student Academic Success Center CRLA Peer Tutor Training, Sept. 2019.
- “Writing the Graduate School Personal Statement.” Fall 2019.
- “Writing the Graduate School Personal Statement for Health Professions.” Workshop presentation to UNE students enrolled in Health Wellness and Occupational Studies Junior Seminar, Mar. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.
- “BIO 104 Lab Report Writing Workshop.” With Lena Moser and Greg Labonte, Feb,. 2018. With Karen Tasker and Greg Labonte, Feb. 2019, Feb. 2020.
- “Planning Research.” Workshop presentation to students enrolled in Psychology Senior Capstone. Feb. 2017.
- “Writing Organic Chemistry Lab Reports.” Workshop presentation to students enrolled in Organic Chemistry. University of New England, May 2016
- “Synthesizing Sources.” Workshop presentation to students enrolled Health Wellness and Occupational Studies Research Methods. Feb. 2016.
- “Compiling and Assessing Sources for Research in the Health Professions.” Workshop presentation to students enrolled Health Wellness and Occupational Studies Research Methods. Feb. 2016.
- “How to Get the Most Out of Your PRAXIS Prep.” Workshop presentation to University of New England Education majors, Feb. 2016
GRANTS AWARDED
- Tacit Knowledge and Transfer: Making Explicit Connections between Stretch Freshman Composition and Writing in Other Courses. Council of Writing Program Administrators Grant. 2016.
- Tacit Knowledge and Transfer: A Qualitative Study of ENG110/SAS 011 Participants. Center for the Enrichment of Teaching and Learning Mini-Grant. The University of New England. 2016.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
- University Faculty Assembly, Liaison. 2021, 2022, 2023
- University Faculty Assembly – Student Affairs Committee, Liaison. 2023.
- Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Advisory Board, 2020, 2021, 2023.
- UNE Strategic Plan Priority 1 (Teaching and Learning) Oversight Committee, 2018, 2019.
- EAB Navigate/Student Success Advisory Board, 2017, 2018.
- Various hiring committees, 2016-present
VOLUNTEER SERVICE
- Drum Corps International, Volunteer. 2023.
- Blessed Sacrament Winter Color Guard, Volunteer. 2023.
- Seacoast Marching Band Parents’ Group, Chair. 2021
- Old Orchard Beach Marching Band Parents’ Group, Chair. 2019-2020.
- Maine Attraction Winter Color Guard Parents Group, Chair. 2019-2022.
- Maine Attraction Winter Color Guard Parents Group, Member. 2018.
- Regional School Unit 23 Strategic Planning Committee, Member. 2018, 2023.
- Youth Sports Coaching. 2011-2016.