2016 – 2017 Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Celebrating Faculty and Staff Scholarship recognizes the scholarly activities of NECC faculty and staff that have been published or presented over the past year. NECC faculty and staff may contact Kim Burns, Dean of Academic Innovations at kburns@necc.mass.edu to provide information on scholarly activities.

  • Director of Instructional Technology and Online Learning Melba Acevedo co-organized a workshop Web Accessibility in Higher Ed: Influence, Explore and Learn for the NorthEast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP).
  • Adjunct Art Instructor Bonnie Ashmore-Davis’ painting It Would Have Been Enough was shown at the Flint Water Crisis exhibit at Buckhan Gallery in Flint, MI this October. A portion of the proceeds from the exhibit goes to the Flint Child Health and Development Fund, to assist families of the children who were affected by lead poisoning. Bonnie’s painting, Sound Off was selected as one of only 29 pieces to be included in the 59th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art by jurors Steven Harvey, director of Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects in NYC and Jennifer Samet, co-director of SHFAP. The exhibition ran through July 18th at the Strohl Art Center at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
  • Adjunct Art Instructor Bonnie Ashmore-Davis had her work featured in The Scarf Project: Nurturing the Tie Between Art and Healing at the Peabody Essex Museum. This work explores the molecular structure of chemotherapeutic agents found in nature.
  • Adjunct Theater and Communications Instructor Brianne Beatrice was nominated for the 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award at Salem State University, and was nominated by Broadway World for the Best Actress in a Play for her role as Bonnie in Gloucester Stage Company’s Production of The Last Schwartz in July 2016.
  • Adjunct Theater and Communications Instructor Brianne Beatrice was nominated for several awards, including the Stephen Sondheim Teaching Award at the J. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Outstanding First Year Advocate Award at Salem State University, and the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Best Actress in a Play (Midsize).
  • Adjunct Professor of Behavioral Sciences Mark Beaudry published four book reviews in The Security Beacon newsletter of the Boston Chapter of ASIS International. Reviews were of the following: Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard; Islam Without Allah: The Rise of Religious Externalism in Safavid Iran by Colin Turner; Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722 by Andrew J. Newman and Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup by Christopher de Bellaigue.
  • Chief Information Officer Jeff Bickford earned his MBA magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Isenberg School of Management.
  • Professor of Music Alisa Bucchiere was the Music Director, Accompanist and Conductor for the Firehouse Theater’s production of Avenue Q.
  • Professor and Coordinator of Journalism/Communication Amy Callahan presented From Absence to Ellen: Portrayals of LGBT People in Media and Why Visibility Matters at the Woburn Public Library Speakers Series in partnership with the NECC Speakers Bureau. Professor Callahan was also a featured speaker at the first Annual Meeting of Haverhill Matters, a journalism co-op associated with The Banyan Project.
  • Natural Sciences Professor Dr. Mark Clements published Evidence of the island rule and microevolution in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in an urban harbor archipelago with Lauren Nolfo-Clements, Rossano Butcher and Mikayla Leite in the international journal Mammal Research.
  • English Tutor and Adjunct Instructor Sara Codair had several fiction pieces published including Red Tide Rising in Helios Quarterly, The Necromantic Buzz in Secrets of the Goat People, Restoration in Twenty-five Minutes on The Centropic Oracle, Customer Service in Owl Hollow Press’ Dark Magic: Witches, Hackers and Robots, Shell Shedding in Breath and Shadow and The Cell was the 2nd place winner in Women on Writing Winter 2016 Contest.
  • Community Services Support Merrimack Graduate Fellow Joanna de Pena was honored with The El Mundo Boston Latino 30 under 30 award.
  • Professor of Deaf Studies Kevin Fleece was nominated for the Massachusetts Colleges Online Course of Distinction Award for his development of the course ASL 203.
  • Professor of Development English Joanna Fortna was recognized by Vinfen Corporation Developmental Services and its Family Advisory Council with a Family Recognition Award.
  • Early College Art instructor Kate Gartrell showed a solo exhibition of paintings at Colo-Colo Gallery in New Bedford, MA in August.
  • Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs William Heineman co-presented ATD Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool Alignment to Accreditation at the 2017 DREAM Conference in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Heineman also co-presented with Dean of Student Success Dawna Perez The Great Convergence: Strategic Plan, Academic Master Plan & iPASS into ONE vision at NECC
  • Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs William Heineman presented the NECC Fifth Year Interim Accreditation Report at a NEASC workshop for peer colleges.
  • Professor of Art and Accessible Media Specialist Lance Hidy’s illustrations were included in the article Letter Culture: The Enduring Influence of Lloyd Reynolds by Jerry Kelly in the Fall 2017 edition of Letter Arts Review. Two of Professor Hidy’s book designs were honored at The 60th New England Book Show sponsored by Bookbuilders of Boston.
  • Professor and Program Coordinator for Respiratory Care, Jennifer Jackson-Stevens, received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Massasoit Community College during the Massasoit Community College Respiratory Care Program Reunion and Alumni Awards Banquet on November 17, 2016.
  • Professor of Nursing Sheila Kane was nominated for the Massachusetts Colleges Online Course of Distinction Award for her development of the course CHW100.
  • Adjunct ESL Instructor Kevin King published the novel Phantom.
  • Professor and Coordinator for Human Services Brian MacKenna-Rice presented a workshop titled Drug and Alcohol Counseling for Guidance Counselors for NECC partner school districts and a lecture on Adolescents and Substance Abuse at a meeting of the Northeast Region for School Nurses.
  • Director of STEM Pathways Brianne McDonough co-presented The Orlando Tragedy: Our Collective Response at the NASPA Regional 1 Annual Conference held in Burlington, VT along with colleagues Eric Crumrine, Associate Director of Residential Education at Berklee College of Music and Donnie Taveras, Student Services Specialist at YearUp. Panelists included Julia Golden-Battle, Assistant Director/LGBTQ Liaison, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at Salem State University; Alex Cabal, Director, Center for Diversity and Social Justice at Wentworth Institute of Technology; and Patrick Hale, Assistant Director of Intercultural Affairs at Stonehill College.
  • Director of STEM Pathways Brianne McDonough co-presented A New Community College Tool For Navigating Education and Careers on a Regional Level at the Commonwealth Workforce Coalition 14th Annual Sharing Skills Building Connections Conference on May 11, 2017 in Sturbridge, MA.
  • Director of Career and Experiential Education Ashley Moore published Personal Branding and Networking: Key Components to Community College Student Success in the National Career Development Association’s Career Developments Magazine Spring 2017 edition.
  • Adjunct Instructor of Global Studies Rich Padova presented a lecture at the Institute of American Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany on the U.S. presidential election system, with an emphasis on the role of the Midwestern battleground states on May 24, 2017. Mr. Padova also published the book Who Are They? A Look at Vice Presidential Spouses from Abigail Adams to Karen Pence and designed and curated the exhibit Lawrence Joins the Cause: The U.S. Enters World War I commemorating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I and Lawrence’s role in it at Lawrence Heritage State Park.
  • Adjunct Professor of Art Dianne Pappas’ sculpture Vessel was recently shown at the National Academy Museum & School in New York, NY.
  • Assistant Professor of English Patricia Portanova and Professor of English as a Second Language Richard Lizotte co-wrote a chapter titled “Internationalization and the Place of Resident ML Students: Identifying Points of Leverage and Advocacy” for a collection titled Linguistically Diverse Immigrant and Resident Writers: Transitions from High School to College published by Routledge. The chapter was a collaboration with Christina Ortmeier-Hooper, Dana Ferris, and Margi Wald.
  • Professor of Developmental English, Curriculum Coordinator for Developmental Reading, and Faculty Fellow Patricia Schade co-facilitated a four day training titled Reading Apprenticeship Leadership in Community of Practice for colleagues from across the country. Collaborators for this project included: Nika Hogan, Community College National Coordinator, Cindy Hicks, Professor Emeritus, Chabot Community College, Theresa Martin STEM faculty, Santa Monica Community College, and Ann Foster, Foster 3CSN Network and Reading Apprenticeship Coordinator.
  • Professor Trish Schade’s leadership role in Reading Apprenticeship was documented in the book Leading for Literacy: A Reading Apprenticeship Approach by Ruth Schoenbach, Cynthia Greenleaf and Lynn Murphy.
  • Coordinator for Instructional Technology Sue Tashjian and Professor of Early Childhood Education Jody Carson co-presented at several conferences this year, including TASS, TSLD, NERCOMP, Northeast OER Summit, Massachusetts Colleges Online 12th Annual conference on eLearning, 13th Annual OpenEd Conference, and GPSTEM APT Summit about Open Educational Resources. Sue Tashjian was also appointed to the Board of Directors for New England Faculty Development Consortium (NEFDC) for a three-year term.
  • Professor of English Elle Yarborough presented Writing Interactive Stories: Platforms and Assignments at a panel on Teaching the Multimodal Research Essay: Cinemagraphs, Instagram, Pictographs, and Digital Journalism at the 2016 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Several NECC faculty and staff presented at the 28th Annual Teaching Academic Survival & Success (TASS) Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida:
    • K-14 Educational Development Director Kirsten Kortz co-presented Experiences in Nature: Improving Math and Science Learning Through Experiential Teaching and Learning.
    • Coordinator for Instructional Technology Sue Tashjian and Professor of Early Childhood Education Jody Carson co-presented Improving Teaching, Learning, and Collaboration through the Open Educational Resources Initiative.
    • Director of Library Services Mike Hearn, Reference Librarians Susan Leonardi and Laura Mondt co-presented The Academic Library and New Student Orientation: Redefining Roles.
  • Numerous NECC faculty and staff presented at the 2017 Massachusetts Community College Teaching, Learning, and Student Development Conference at Massasoit Community College on April 7, 2017:
    • Coordinator of Instructional Technology Susan Tashjian and Professor of Early Childhood Education Jody Carson co-presented Massachusetts Community Colleges Go Open OER Showcase and Faculty Panel and Open, Online & Engaging: OER for the Digital Classroom.
    • Dean of Academic Innovations and Interim Dean of Professional Development Kim Burns, CBE Learning Coach Ada Greenberg, Academic Innovations Coordinator and Merrimack Fellow Katie Mara and Professor of English and Academic Innovations Fellow Elle Yarborough co-presented How Competency-Based Education Fits into the Higher Education Landscape.
    • Director of Financial Aid Alexis Fishbone presented Financial Aid and Retention- It’s Not Just About Pell.
    • Director of Instructional Technology and Online Learning Melba Acevedo, Professor of Art and Accessible Media Specialist Lance Hidy, Media Specialist Minh Le and Director of Learning Accommodations Susan Martin co-presented The Broader Benefits of Creating an Accessible Digital Campus to Support ALL Learners toward Graduation, Transfer, and Employment.
    • Associate Professor of Chemistry Michael Cross presented Undercover Professor: How Becoming a Student Helped Me Become a Better Teacher.
    • K-14 Educational Development Director Kirsten Kortz presented Using Experiential Education for Increasing Student Engagement and Learning.
    • Adjunct Professor of Developmental English and Writing Coach Sara Codair, Adjunct Professor of Developmental English and Marketing Specialist Margaret Glenn, Associate Professor of Developmental English Aaron Moreno, Professor of Developmental English Patricia Schade, and Professor of Developmental English Clare Thompson-Ostrander co-presented Supporting Literacy in Accelerated Models of English with Reading Apprenticeship.