University Undergraduate Research Council Spring 2009 – Present

Roles: Member through 2012, Chair since 2013
The University Undergraduate Research Council (UURC) meets on an as needed basis, generally about once a month. The UURC awards travel grants and students summer stipend grants. The UURC also assists in the organization of Adam Center sessions for faculty who work with undergraduate researchers. The UURC also works to come up with additional ways to support research at ACU. As the chair of the UURC, I organize meetings, gather information, and look to the UURC to provide input to the Office of Undergraduate Research. Working as part of the UURC has provided me with an opportunity to see much of the great research work being done across campus.

Research Festival Planning Committee, Spring 2009 – Present

Roles: Sub-committee chair 2009-2012, Chair 2013-Present
The Research Festival Planning Committee organizes the Undergraduate Research Festival every year. The first four years of the Research Festival I served as the Judging and Contest sub-committee chair. This committee organizes the rubrics, judges and prizes for the Research Festival. As chair of the Research Festival Planning Committee, I oversee all of the sub-committees and do any other work that needs to be done for the Research Festival to take place. This is my favorite event of the year. It is amazing to see the good research work that our students do.

Internal Review Board Fall 2012-Present

Role: Member, Expedited Reviewer
The Internal Review Board reviews research that involves human subjects. As one of the expedited reviewers, I read research proposals and decide if they are exempt or need to go to a full review. The IRB meets roughly once a month, however, during the school year we review 4-5 proposals a month. During the summer we review 1-2 proposals per month. Like the other research related committees this allows me to see some of the variety of research occurring on campus.

Health Professions Advisory Committee Fall 2005 – Present

Role: Member
The committee meets 1-3 times a semester.  Our role is to aid students who wish to pursue advanced degrees in the medical field.  We also meet with students during Mock Interviews to prepare them for medical school interviews.

I enjoy helping students prepare for their futures.  The mock interviews are particularly interesting because we get to learn more about the students and see them in a different situation.

Learning Management System Selection Committee Spring 2014 – Present

Role: Member
The LMS selection committee is looking at which LMS ACU will move to after OpenClass. We will be looking at options and meeting with interested parties on campus to choose the best option for ACU.

Pursuit Implementation Team Spring 2013 – present

Role: ex officio
The Pursuit Implementation Team works to carry out the plan of the QEP. They award grants and oversee other aspects of Pursuit. As ex officio, I serve as a resource to the committee about undergraduate research.

College of Arts and Sciences Academic Council Fall 2012 – Spring 2014

Role: Science Representative
The CASAC approves new courses, changes to the catalog and other similar changes to the College of Arts and Sciences courses and make up. In general, the CASAC met twice a month. This committee exposed me to many of the courses and plans of the different departments of the College of Arts and Sciences.

University Research Council Fall 2006 – Spring 2012

Role: Member
The Research Council meets on an as needed basis, but always in the spring to evaluate and award the Math-Science grants (or Cullen grants.)  Through my work on the Research Council I am able to see so much of the research going on in Math and Science at ACU.  I certainly do not understand everyone’s research, but it is inspiring to see the work each one does  in his or her field.

Faculty Senate Fall 2012

Role: Senator
The Faculty Senate represents the interests of the faculty. The Faculty Senate met twice a month. I was only able to serve as a Senator for one semester, as I was no longer qualified when I took the position of Director of Undergraduate Research.

Provost Search Committee Fall 2011-Spring 2012

Role: Member:
Late Fall 2011 and Spring 2012, the Provost search committee met weekly to bi-weekly to identify the best candidate for the Provost. As part of this committee, I aided in meeting with constituent groups, contacting potential candidates, reading resumes, conducting interviews, and developing a recommendation to Dr. Schubert. It was an interesting opportunity to learn more about how the University worked and to learn about different view points across campus.

Honors Dean Search Committee Spring 2011

Role: Member
Spring 2011, the Honors Dean search committee met weekly to bi-weekly to identify the best candidate for the Dean of the Honors College. The Honors Dean Search Committee allowed me to get to know faculty from across campus better and learn more about the ACU Honors College.

QEP Development Team 2010

Role: Member
The QEP Development Team was tasked with developing the chosen topic of Research Literacy. As part of the team, I particularly worked on the sub-committee tasked with how to best include undergraduate research into our QEP. As part of the team, I did background research into the effectiveness of undergraduate research and aided in developing objectives.

Integrated Course 3 Design Team – Summer 2009

Role: Member
The original design of the Core Curriculum included 3 integrated courses after the Cornerstone class. Two other faculty members, Ed Robinson and Bill Ranks, and I were tasked with the design of the third integrated course. A proposal and syllabus were written and presented to the CAS faculty. The decision was made to go a different direction from the original Cornerstone, IC1, IC2, and IC3 design. This was an interesting task as it allowed me to work with faculty from different fields and design an integrated course.