Adjunct Directory

In addition to teaching business related courses, Dr. Patricia Amborn is a business consultant as well as published writer in the wellness field.  These areas of interest allow her to look at the activities of business organizations from a holistic perspective, encouraging awareness of people, profit, process, technology, and the global community when assisting in the development of organizational strategy.  Dr. Amborn helps organizations create mission statements and develop strategies aligned with their missions while also conducting leadership and entrepreneurial workshops.  She is currently working on translating her PhD dissertation into a book.

In addition to running three successful small businesses, Dr. Christina Anastasia is an adjunct professor and a works as a subject matter expert. She has taught at every level on the educational spectrum, from undergraduate to the doctoral research and writing courses. Dr. Anastasia holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a D.M. in Executive Leadership.

Dr. Anastasia worked her way through the educational system herself:  starting with an Associate’s degree in Business Administration back in 1993, through to her Ph.D. in Philosophy/Organizational Management at Capella, awarded in 2008. She is also an author and has published books such as, Teaching in Pink Fuzzy Slippers: A Real Guide for Online Instruction in 2006 and Karma & the Art of Business in 2003, as well as an Organizational Behavior textbook.

She has hands-on experience in business leadership and start-ups as a successful entrepreneur and has counseled small businesses through the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Dr. Anastasia is a certified instructor in the Capsim Business Simulation and has designed curriculum for education partnerships with employers and trade associations to address specific skill sets seen as an immediate need for their workforce development.

Jennifer Ardellini earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Management at the University of Phoenix.  She has been an educator for eleven years in the School of Business.   She teaches several business courses, such as Organizational Management, Women in Management, Introduction to Management, Business Ethics,  and Organizational Behavior.  She has served as the Adjunct Faculty Mentor at the Wisconsin Campus.  Correlating textbook information with real-world situations, providing stimulating discussions and continual support of the adult learner, is what drives her energy and enthusiasm. She receives outstanding student reviews.

Instructor Bob Armbrust, PhD is an adjunct professor of business at Ottawa University’s Kansas City and online campuses.  Dr. Armbrust earned his doctorate from St. Louis University and his MBA from the University of Louisville with an emphasis in Operations Management.  His corporate career includes senior leadership positions at Fortune 500 organizations such as H.J. Heinz, Coca-Cola and Perrigo Pharmaceuticals. In 2006, Dr. Armbrust decided to make a career change and enter academia. He has since taught numerous online and local modality courses.  His teaching interests include Strategic Planning, Project Management and the MBA Capstone course. In his free time he loves to travel and stays committed to lifelong learning.

Instructor Denise Atwood JD, RN, CPHRM  is an Adjunct Professor for Ottawa University’s online campus.  Denise earned her Juris Doctor in Law from Arizona Summit Law School in Phoenix, Arizona, and her nursing degree from Moorpark College.  She is licensed in Arizona as a lawyer and a registered nurse.  She has worked in healthcare since the 1990's and has served as adjunct professor at Ottawa for several years.  She enjoys teaching Health Care Law and Ethics!

In her free time, Denise loves to travel, practice yoga and spend time in the mountains or at the beach.

Marcia Baker has spent most of her life in Arizona and Texas. She completed her undergraduate degree at Ft. Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. She moved back to Arizona and completed her graduate degree in Education in Counseling while working in the behavioral health field as a counselor. After completing her graduate degree she continued to work as a counselor and administrator in the behavioral health field for over 30 years. During her 30 years, she began working as an adjunct college professor and still continues this today. She went back to school to complete a PhD in Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine and is expected to complete this degree in 2017. She holds many licenses in the behavioral health field and is in private practice in Texas where she lives with her family.

In her free time she is an avid runner, yoga instructor/practitioner and loves spending time outside and with family.

Dr. Nicole Baker grew up in Kansas City, MO and completed her undergraduate degree in English at Syracuse University. She spent the first part of her career teaching K-12 in the suburbs of Kansas City.  While teaching high school, she completed her doctoral studies at UMKC with a focus in literacy.  Upon completion of her PhD, she decided to make a career change and moved from K-12 to higher education.  She has taught with Ottawa University since 2013.

Callie Ballenger has known she wanted to be a nurse since the age of five. As a child Callie was always setting up a hospital with her dolls and examining them with her toy doctor kit. She became a Certified Nursing Assistant during her senior year of high school and worked at a nursing home through nursing school.  Instructor Ballenger graduated from Baker University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2002.  Upon graduation from nursing school she worked as a staff nurse on the organ transplant, renal, and vascular unit at The University of Kansas Hospital, which is a large academic medical center in Kansas City, KS. In 2006 Callie became the Unit Educator where she did staff education on new equipment and procedures and facilitated orientation for new employees and clinical rotations for nursing students.  In 2006 Callie began her master’s education at the University of Kansas and served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the school of nursing skills lab where she taught assessment and foundation skills to undergraduate nursing students.  Callie loves teaching others and sharing her passion for nursing with the future generations of nurses.  Callie graduated from the University of Kansas in 2009 with a Master’s Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner and with a post master’s certificate in Healthcare Education.  She then worked for six months as a nurse practitioner for the liver transplant surgeons in which she facilitated communication and care for patients between the surgical team and consulting services.  Instructor Callie Ballenger is currently a Clinic Manager at Take Care Health Systems which operates the clinics inside Walgreens Pharmacies.  Here she provides episodic care and preventative/wellness services to 18 months and older.  Callie manages the day to day operations of two clinics and a staff of five NPs while actively working 35 hours per week seeing patients in the clinic.

On a personal note Callie has been happily married to her husband for 11 years. She has two boys and her hobbies are attending her kid’s school and sport activities.  Callie is active in the PTA at her son’s school and in her spare time she enjoys scrapbooking and ATV riding.

Janet Barrow, EdD grew up in Lawrence, KS and completed her undergraduate degree at Spalding University in Louisville, KY.  She has devoted her career to human resources and earned an MPA from the University of Louisville and a Doctorate of Leadership Education from Spalding University while serving as Director of HR at Louisville International Airport.  She enjoys her return to Kansas and has been an adjunct instructor with Ottawa University since 2009.

Lea Bastin grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and spent her first 20 years traveling as much as possible, experiencing as many cultures as she could. After settling down with her family, she completed her undergraduate degree at Ottawa University studying Psychology and Human Services. Wanting to continue to work with multiple cultures, Lea took a job in social services working with families on child safety. While working with the Department of Child Safety, Lea pursued her graduate degree, completing a Master’s of Science in Psychology.  Upon completion of her MSP, she chose to make a career change and enter higher education.  Currently working as a counselor and trainer at a local university, Lea is also pursuing her PhD in Psychology with an Emphasis in Cognition and Instruction. 

Instructor Billy Bataille grew up in Montreal, Canada, but was accepted into the PhD program at the University of Miami where he completed his Master’s degree in Economics. He also completed a Master’s degree in Geography at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne to complement his global academic knowledge. Billy taught at California State University-Bakersfield, NYIT at their China campus, and at Temple University.

He enjoys learning about the world in general, through cinema and other art forms and through his travels which took him to the Himalayas, the Tropical Rainforest of Borneo, Europe, across all but five U.S. states, and Jerusalem.

Instructor Bataille has enjoyed teaching and interacting with the Ottawa University student body since 2016.

Instructor Oguzhan Batmaz grew up in Turkey and completed his undergraduate degree in Economics at Gaziantep University. He moved to Lawrence, Kansas to attend graduate school at University of Kansas and finished his MA in Economics in 2012. He then started his PhD at the same place, and now he is a PhD candidate -ABD-. He taught both principles and electives in Economics at University of Kansas. His specialization areas International Economics/Finance, Macroeconomics, Growth-Development, and Institutional Economics. He is currently teaching at Ottawa University as an Adjunct Instructor and enjoys sharing his teaching experiences within the classroom. In his free time, he loves to spend time with his family.

Kate Bayne grew up in Kansas and completed her undergraduate degree at Emporia State University.  She has been teaching since twelve years of age when she taught swim lessons for the American Red Cross.  Along with swim instruction and coaching, she also worked in the book industry as a corporate trainer. After completing her MAEd, she taught for Bryman School of Arizona and Ottawa University. She has taught with Ottawa University since 2016 and enjoys integrating her background in poetry and literature into Composition courses.

Dr. Berg grew up in North Dakota.  His experiences are primarily in academic/administrative higher education, entrepreneur/business owner, corporate education/consulting in both domestic and global environments.  University academic experiences include full professor & department chairman, Northern State University; Director of Arizona State University Computer Institute; Dean of Academics at Western International University-Phoenix campus and London England campus; multiple Professor-of-the-Year awards; and, textbook author. 

Dr. Berg has entrepreneurial experiences owning and operating small businesses including a small manufacturing company, a retail western store, and an assisted living care home.  He also worked his way through college in a grocery store and in oil field trucking.  He started and continues to operate a grocery store from scratch in a small town with revenues the first year and following years reaching $1 million. 

Dr. Berg has worked as a national and global consultant and seminar leader doing seminars through Bottom Line Institute LLC with multiple years as a Strategic Planning in IT seminar leader for American Management Association.  Seminars have been held in the USA, Canada, Taiwan, England and Russia in corporate/business/government environments, on these topics: information technology, strategic planning & management, C-Level strategic planning, information management, marketing, leadership, and power & politics.

Dr. Berg has been teaching in Ottawa University’s MBA program since 2006. 

Mahdi Bigdely was raised in Tehran, Iran and completed his BA degree in Physical Education at University of Tehran and MA of Sport Management at Allameh Tabataba'i University.  He has been actively involved in the sport of wrestling and has coached and competed in elite levels. Mahdi moved to Jamestown, North Dakota to attend another graduate school at University of Jamestown and finished his second MA in Education in 2016. He has been an educator and researcher for 12 years, and enjoys integrating his coaching and competing experience for students within the classroom.

Marci Bigler grew up in Louisville, KY and Jacksonville, FL and completed her undergraduate degree in British and American Literature at Montreat College (NC).  Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Marci began teaching Middle/High School English, where she taught in Milwaukee, WI and at her alma mater in Jacksonville, FL.  She then moved back to the Milwaukee area to attend Marquette University for her graduate work in British and American Literature.  Marci has taught at Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Concordia University (WI); she's taught writing and literature courses at Ottawa University since 2011. In her free time, Marci enjoys spending time with her husband and three kids playing or watching basketball, baseball, football and soccer.  She also loves cheering on her favorite team, the Green Bay Packers. 

Gregory Binder grew up in Madras, Oregon and completed his undergraduate degree at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY.  He was commissioned as an Air Defense Artillery Officer. While in the Army, he pursued his Master of Science degree in Computer Science, at the University of Arizona.  Upon completion of his MSc degree, Mr. Binder was assigned to the faculty of the Military Academy, teaching IT courses.  Subsequently he served in the Pentagon in the U.S. Army Management Systems Support Agency. In 1980, he joined the City of Phoenix MIS department, where he was employed for 34 years.  He has taught at several institutions of higher learning, and has been with Ottawa University since 2003. He focuses on relating his IT experiences to the classroom material as a way to make IT relevant to students within the classroom.

Dr. Black earned his PhD in Education in 2010 with a primary focus on higher education administration and distance education technologies. He also has an MBA in Technology Management and an MS in Healthcare Informatics. Dr. Black began working professionally in IT operations support and management in 1990 and entered the higher education and educational technologies arena in 2000. Dr. Black has extensive IT operations and project management experience and has led IT for both Fortune 500 and Research 1 University organizations. In conjunction with teaching and administration in higher education, he currently also works as an IT Director with an IT services outsourcing company in Salt Lake City. Dr. Black enjoys sharing his IT experience as it relates to the topics presented in classes and how they apply in current industry areas.

Dr. Nicholas Bowersox is currently an operations research analyst for the Department of Defense, United States Air Force, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH. In this role, he provides statistical and mathematical analyses to analyze the Department of Defense Supply Chain. Additionally, Nicholas is quite active in the academic arena. He has been a college professor for ten years, both  teaching and developing courses from the doctoral to undergraduate level in a wide variety of areas such as general management, leadership, strategic management, business policy, organizational behavior, human resources, knowledge/information management, business ethics, business statistics, and algebra. He has taught both traditional and online students of all types, including both military and civilian, as well as traditional and adult learners in accelerated learning formats.  In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, trail running, disc golf, being outdoors, and spending quality time with his beautiful wife.

Nathan Braun is a talented educator with nearly a decade of experience teaching in higher education. His ability to make lasting connections with students is not only impressive, but the measure he uses to gauge his success. Prior to his time in higher education, Nathan served as the IT Director for a national healthcare company and has extensive experience in the world of computer and information security. Nathan looks forward to putting this experience to work for the students of Ottawa University.

Instructor Heather Brown is originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin.  She attended St. Norbert College and completed her undergraduate degree in Education.  In 1999, she moved to Phoenix, AZ and worked 15 years as a middle school and high school English teacher. As an English teacher, she worked with a diverse population of students – ELL, Gifted, and Special Education students.  She started the Writer’s Club and worked on this program in conjunction with the community colleges. 

In 2004, she obtained a MA in Educational Counseling from the University of Phoenix and in 2009, she obtained a MA in Curriculum and Instruction. She is a qualified Reading Specialist and is ELL certified. In 2012, Instructor Brown decided to use her MA in Educational Counseling and served as a high school guidance counselor. She continues to serve as a high school guidance counselor but her passion for teaching continues.  She coaches the freshmen girls’ basketball team at her high school and she teaches at multiple community colleges throughout the state.  She has over 10 years of experience teaching English and Counseling as adjunct faculty. She has recently pursued another MA in Professional Writing:  English.  Upon completion of this degree, she began working with Ottawa University as an English instructor. In her free time, she loves traveling and spending time with her family.

Kevin grew up in the pacific northwest and attended Eastern Washington University for both his undergraduate and graduate studies.  Upon graduation Kevin moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he has been practicing as a school psychologist since 1997.  Additionally, Kevin serves as adjunct faculty for both Ottawa University (since 2012) and Grand Canyon University (since 2009), as well as being a practicum and internship supervisor of school psychology candidates from a variety of universities.  Kevin received the Grand Canyon University excellence in teaching award in 2010 and 2012 as well as the Lamp of Learning Award (2017) from Washington Elementary School District and Educator of the Year award from the Arizona Middle Level Association (2016).  Kevin has served as the counseling coordinator for Washington Elementary School District’s 32 schools, represented professional service staff with employment dispute resolution, salary and benefits and working condition concerns, and has developed, wrote and implemented district wide programs for dealing with challenging student behaviors.  Kevin's various memberships include the Washington District Education Association, Arizona Education Association, Arizona Association of School Psychologists, National Association of School Psychologists and PsiChi, National Honor Society for Psychology. 

Judge Bryant is an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Arizona. He started his legal career as a Law Clerk at the Arizona Court of Appeals and then as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Arizona. He was an ALJ with the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings and heard a wide variety of cases from 1997 to 2014. One of his areas of specialty is Special Education Law, as he was one of only two ALJs who heard and decided Special Education cases for the entire State over a fifteen-year period. He is currently an ALJ for the Arizona Board of Fingerprinting. He has taught Legal Assisting classes in almost every area of law for over 20 years. He started teaching Special Education Law at Ottawa in 2014. Judge Bryant also teaches Education Law and US Constitution.

Professor Kimberly Byrd is a Full Time Instructor in the School of Business at Ottawa University.   She was born in the Republic of Panama and lived there until she was 18 years old.  Her family owns several businesses including a construction company, a property management company, and a landscaping company.  She is very involved in the PTA at the local schools and work with the teachers and children every week.   She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting with honors.  She then tackled the Certified Public Accountant exam and passed.  She worked for several years in the business world and decided to take on the challenge of a Master’s Degree in accounting.  She felt the best option for her to accomplish this goal was online classes due to her workload, family schedule, and many responsibilities.  She knows personally what a sacrifice it is to make the commitment to attend college while having so many other obligations. She also graduated with honors from her Master’s program. Professor Byrd has been in the accounting profession for many years.  She has worked in private, public, governmental and non-profit organizations.  She has also worked for several accounting firms.

Dr. Carlson spent her formative years in Denver Colorado where she enjoyed skiing, camping, biking and tae kwon do. She left Colorado to go out of state to California for her education. During her undergraduate years she worked as a chemist for American McGaw Pharmaceuticals. After earning a doctorate at UCLA (in the Mental Retardation Research Center) she did post-doctoral research for 6 years at University of California Irvine, California State University Fullerton and University of Colorado School of Medicine. During this time, she was inspired by conversations with Hugh Ross who went on to found “Reasons to Believe”, and Francis Collins, then head of the Human Genome Project. Dr. Carlson went on to become an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at University of Colorado at Denver where she developed an interest in the biochemisty of nutrition and did research on the iron storage protein ferritin.

She had a heart to integrate faith and learning and this lead her to a position at Colorado Christian University as an Associate Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Carlson has also enjoyed teaching AP and IB biology and chemistry in high school for many years. She lives in Surprise and enjoys golf, camping, biking scuba diving, worshiping God, spending time with family and friends and teaching chemistry!

Karen Carr worked for 11 years in health care and human services, holding a variety of professional and management positions within government agencies, as well as private and publically held companies.

In January of 2000, Karen began her career in education by teaching management and information systems courses for the Maricopa Community College system in Phoenix, Arizona.  At Grand Canyon University, she taught courses on a part time basis and also held a full time faculty position in the College of Business. Karen has been teaching online courses for Ottawa University since September 2008 and currently teaches Managing Cultural Diversity, Management and Behavior in Organizations. Teaching is her passion and she strives to make concepts meaningful and relevant to her diverse group of students.

In addition to teaching traditional and online courses, Karen has developed online course modules/lecture materials, mentored new online faculty, acted as a peer support reviewer, and served on Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and ACBSP Teaching Effectiveness Assessment committees in preparation for accreditation reviews.

Instructor Carroll was raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She served in the United States Air Force on active duty for over 10 years, being stationed in locations within the United States and overseas. During her time in the Air Force she completed her BS degree in Business Management at the University of Phoenix and her MS degree in Human Resources at Chapman University. Dr. Carroll continued her education after separating from the military and went on to complete her EdD in Education Leadership and Management at Capella University. She has over 20 years experience educating adult learners, and over 20 years of combined experience in leadership and management.

Dr. Vicki Carter currently works at Community Health Center where she started in 2008. She is the Behavioral Health Director and Clinician for New London County. Dr. Carter is also the Clinical Coordinator and Trainer on SBIRT within an integrated care environment.  Dr. Carter is a licensed clinician and is a clinical consultant for the Office of Public Defenders.  Dr. Carter is the proud mother is a nineteen year old son, college sophomore.

Dr. Carter’s teaching philosophy is one scholar-practitioner. This philosophy embraces the integration of academia and work practices as both allow for continued curiosity on education and human behavior.

Instructor Mark Cederburg grew up in Kansas City and obtained degrees in psychology, sociology, and social work. These degrees prepared him for work in the fields of child welfare, family services, mental health, and disabilities. For the past 15 years, Mr. Cederburg has focused on academia, teaching ground and online classes at several universities. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and experiences with budding human service workers.

Dr. Patricia Coccoma is an adjunct instructor at Ottawa University. Originally from New York and now residing in Southwest Florida, her career has included multiple positions from Staff Social Worker to Assistant Executive Director at a mental health agency. She has been an Associate Professor in Social Work programs at two univiersities.  She maintains a private clinical social work practice assisting adults, families and couples. Her research interest is in trauma and has co-published a book as well as multiple journal articles

Sue Cohen earned a BS degree in Psychology and an MSW in Social Work from the University of Illinois. She worked as a therapist for the first ten years of her career and then served as a Program Administrator in a large non-profit organization in Northeast Wisconsin overseeing a variety of services in the areas of crisis intervention, sexual assault, youth prevention, and treatment programs and services for runaway and homeless youth. She has been teaching in undergraduate and graduate programs in Wisconsin for the past 25 years. Currently, she serves as a Supervisor of Initial Assessment Specialists for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Sue enjoys doing federal grant reviews and spending time with her grandchildren.

Kelly Collum earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a graduate degree in Elementary Education.  For over ten years she has been an enthusiastic teacher who LOVES her job!  She truly couldn't ask to work in a better profession.  Kelly has worked in a variety of classroom settings such as low-income, title-one, ESE, and ESOL.  Kelly feels very passionate about the education of children and strives on a daily basis to ensure that her group of students will impact the world one day.  She has also enjoyed teaching at the University level for over five years.  She finds it truly amazing how much passion she sees for teaching in each and every one of the courses she teaches.

When not teaching, Kelly is spending time with family.  She has a beautiful baby girl who is consuming life with joy and love!  She also has a husband who thinks he’s a comedic genius and two crazy dogs.  Kelly loves to exercise and is certified as a CRT200 Yoga Instructor and teaches an intense style of yoga called Hot Vinyasa Yoga (which pretty much means you’re getting a cardio workout in a heated room).

Kelly and her family live in Florida, literally a ten-minute drive from the ocean and are surrounded with gorgeous nature trails!

David Cook is an instructor of communication. He received his BA in Organizational Management from Southern California College (Now Vanguard University), and his MA in Human Communication from Cal. State University with concentrations in persuasion/compliance gaining and organizational communication.  David has more than 25 years of management experience in the public and private sectors. In 2004 He founded his own communications company providing corporate training and consulting to clients ranging from local pastors to fortune 100 companies. He has taught at Ottawa since 2006. 

Doug Copeland grew up in North Kansas City, Missouri and completed his undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science, as well as his Master’s in Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Doug has 37 years teaching as a full-time faculty member at Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University and Johnson County Community College. He has taught a wide variety of courses beyond economics, including finance, international business, and statistics. He has also authored many editions of Study Guides, Instructor’s Manuals, and Test Banks that accompany textbooks, and has co-authored a few textbooks as well over the last 30 years. Doug has been excited to teach for Ottawa since 2015. In his spare time he enjoys horseback riding and traveling.

Dr. Bari Courts received his PhD from Capella University in Organizational Management and an MBA in Management from the University of Cincinnati. In addition, Dr. Courts has a BS in Mathematics from Kenyon College. He earned his degree from Capella entirely online and is very familiar with the time commitment and other issues associated with completing a degree online; he understands it is not easy but it is very rewarding. Dr. Courts has been teaching online for over 12 years now and has taught courses that include e-Commerce, Economics, Management, Organizational Behavior, Research Methodology, and Statistics. His professional background includes some time in the insurance industry and a position as a project manager for a major ERP software implementation. He also owns a small self-storage business just outside of Cincinnati.

Professionally Dr. Courts is a board member of two organizations, conducts presentations on various topics, and writes course curriculum. His research interests include writing about social media. His most recently published article is titled "The Influence of Social Media on 21st Century Leaders". In his free time Dr. Courts stays active by playing soccer for exercise, and singing in both a barbershop chorus and barbershop quartet. 

Dan Crawley completed an undergraduate degree in English from Arizona State University and a master's from Northern Arizona University, with emphasis in Creative Writing. He has been an instructor at Ottawa University for seven years, teaching a number of English literature and creative writing courses. All together, Dan has been teaching English courses in higher education for eighteen years at various community colleges and universities throughout Arizona. He is a published fiction writer, with over fifty stories appearing or forthcoming in a number of online and print journals. He is in the process of putting together three fiction chapterbooks and also sending a short story collection out to a number of publishers and awards. His hope is to have a book on the shelf very soon.

Dr. Keith Crawley has been an adjunct professor for several universities in Arizona since 1988. He is an Arizona native with leadership experience in public and private school districts of California, Louisiana and Arizona. He has served as a counselor, dean, assistant principal, principal, district supervisor, and superintendent of schools at all grade levels (K-6, 6-8 and 9-12). At one time in his career he served as Principal (middle school) in East Los Angeles that the United States Department of Education cited as the “Model School of America." He facilitates courses in Social Sciences, Education and MA leadership programs while supervising student teachers and administrative interns.

Krystal Deaton is Principle Consultant and owner for Intent and Impact, as well as a adjunct professor for Ottawa University. Deaton began her career in the natural gas industry in 1998 with KN Field Services, which was acquired by ONEOK Field Services in 2001. She held several management and executive positions prior to being appointed to Vice President of Customer Service, where she was responsible for customer service in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas serving 2.1 million customers.

Krystal Deaton currently serves on the Board of Directors for JMJ Pregnancy Centers of Orlando.  Past board service includes the governing board of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, the development board of the University of Texas at El Paso, the board of the United Way of El Paso, the board of trustees for Las Palmas and Del Sol hospitals, board of directors for Texas 811, and the executive committee of the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation.

A Kansas native, Deaton received her MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Ottawa University in 2013 and a Bachelor of General Studies degree with a concentration in Psychology in 2002 from the University of Kansas.  In 2013, she received certification from Harvard Business School, Senior Executive Leadership program.  In 2010, Deaton attended the New Mexico University School of Rates, Oklahoma State University Executive Leadership program and is a graduate of Leadership.

Dr. Gina Deegan, an Ottawa graduate herself, has served as an educator in the Phoenix community for eighteen years. She has worked at the Isaac School District as a teacher and administrator since 2000, and is currently the district’s English Language Arts Strategist. She has been an adjunct instructor at Ottawa University since 2007. Prior to education, she was a journalist at The Arizona Republic. She earned her Doctorate in Education, Organization Leadership, from Grand Canyon University, a Master of Arts in English Literature and Linguistics from Arizona State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and a secondary teaching certificate from Ottawa. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses for Ottawa in Proseminar (now Writing and Critical Thinking), English, Education, Reading Endorsement, Mathematics, and Graduate Review. 

Instructor Jayme A. Delano was raised in New York, completed her BA degree in Criminal Justice at Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus and holds a Master of Social Work from New York University.  In 2004, Ms. Delano moved to the Washington, DC area to work at the University of Maryland, and then in 2010, she joined the Federal Government to work as a policy analyst for the Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program.  Her experience spans years working in public health and public safety, and she enjoys sharing these experience with students.  She is characterized in multiple areas to include oversight of Federal grant programs; subject matter expert; led daily operations of alternative to incarceration programs for substance use disorder population; hired and supervised management teams that worked with organizations to affect the culture and climate necessary for programmatic success; development and oversight of research activities; provided technical assistance and training to a variety of criminal justice agencies; therapist in community-based clinics; and owned a private practice treating people with varied mental health diagnoses.

In her free time, Ms. Delano loves to travel and cook.  She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two dogs (Tibby and Lucy).  

Charles Dickinson is originally from Houston, where he studied piano as a pre-college student at Rice University. From there, Charles earned a BA in Piano Performance from Adams State University in Colorado, an MA from the University of New Mexico, and most recently, an Artist's Certificate from UMKC. His primary teachers have included Dariusz Pawlas, William Lipke, Falko Steinbach, and Karen Kushner, and he has participated in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Anthony de Mare, and Eugene Pridonoff.

As a soloist, he has performed recitals across the United States and Germany. Having a particular focus on contemporary music, Charles has been honored to work with prominent composers like John Corigliano, Martin Scherzinger, and Konrad Boehmer.

Christine Douglass grew up in Livonia, Michigan and completed her undergraduate degree at Eastern Michigan with a major in Communication and a minor in Professional Writing.  Upon graduation, Christine worked ten years as a Human Resources Manager for a local cable and internet provider.  While working, Christine served as a graduate teaching assistant at Eastern Michigan University and graduated with an MA in Communication.  Shortly after graduation she made a career change to the academic world and has been teaching online and in the traditional classroom for the past ten years.  Christine enjoys being able to integrate her real world experience in her day to day encounters in the classroom.  Christine is currently working on a second Masters at Davenport University in Business Management.

Dr. Veliota Drakopoulou has a PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University. She also earned an MBA from New York Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Veliota’s professional experience includes 15+ years in the financial reporting field as NYSE equities day-trader, financial reporting analyst consultant, and construction accountant. Her expertise incorporates fundamental & technical analysis, SEC Edgar filing system, FASB XBRL taxonomy, and FASB Accounting Standards Codification.

She is an editorial board member of the "Journal of Stock and Forex Trading" and the "Journal of Accounting and Finance Research", an External Reviewer and Member of the Corporate Governance Experts Global Repository of Virtus Interpress. Also, Veliota is a member of the American Accounting Association and the Financial Executives International (FERF).  Veliota has published extensively in the areas of the effectiveness of fundamental & technical analysis on stock valuation, the corporate risk management strategies under SFAS 133, and the FVO of equity securities under SFAS 159. 

Krista Dueringer taught Biology, Anatomy, and AVID and coached softball for 12 years in the Olathe, KS Public School District before accepting an Assistant Principal position with that district.  She is beginning her third year as a middle school administrator.  She enjoys working with teachers and aspiring teachers to help them create an innovative and engaging classroom while building strong relationships with their students.

Donald D. Dunn is a faculty member who has taught 33 different courses in leadership, management, ethics, business ethics, and practical ministry for six universities over the last eight years. He holds a BA in Religion from MidAmerica Nazarene University, a Master of Liberal Studies degree in Organizational Leadership from Fort Hays State University, and a PhD in Organization and Management (specializing in Leadership) from Capella University. His subject matter expertise (SME) is in ethical leadership concentrating in business ethics. In addition to his teaching roles, Dr. Dunn offers his research-based The Moldable Model© to help companies design ethical workplaces, committed employees, and competitive advantage. Dunn authored an executive MBA textbook in 2016, published by Business Expert Press entitled: “Designing Ethical Workplaces: The Moldable Model©.” Dr. Dunn has taught for Ottawa University for seven years both in the undergraduate and graduate business programs.

Ms. Durant holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers University School of Law.  She also holds a Master of Science degree in Global Leadership from Duquesne University.Currently, she teaches both graduate and undergraduate course at Ottawa University. Ms. Durant has been a practicing international business attorney for the past 17 years with concentrations in business development, cyber law and intellectual property. Additionally, Ms. Durant has spent many years as a technology sector international business consultant. Further, Ms. Durant serves as a non-profit board member for several national organizations and has served as corporate general counsel on several instances.  Ms. Durant has authored several business law articles and is a frequent public speaker and conference panelist on legal matters and emerging global economic issues.

Elhan Durguti is from Lawrence, Kansas. He is husband to a beautiful wife, father to a precious newborn daughter, and has a passion for teaching. In the early years of his professional career he worked for the casino and hotel industry promoting gaming and training staff to the new customer relationship management policies. He has also spent time in the pharmaceutical industry educating clients of their medical prescription benefits. Mr. Durguti’s passion for education made the transition to higher education a natural fit. He is currently a senior business faculty at Grantham University where he teaches business courses, ranging from Business Statistics, Principles of Business Management, Ethics and Business, Marketing, Business Negotiations, International Business, and Business Policy and Strategy. In addition to teaching Mr. Durguti manages and mentors faculty and staff, designs business courses, and manages assessment projects for his university. He joined the Ottawa family in 2015 as an adjunct for the School of Business. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, traveling to different countries, reading, writing, and playing golf.

Dr. Paul Emeka grew up in Nigeria, currently living in Gilbert, Arizona. He completed his undergraduate degree as well as Master’s degree in Public Affairs (concentration in Healthcare Administration) at Indiana University.  Dr. Emeka spent the majority of his career as Health Facility Administrator in Indiana.  While in working as a Health Facility Administrator, he pursued a Master’s degree in Public affairs with a concentration in Healthcare Administration at Indiana University.  Upon completion of his Master degree, Dr. Emeka decided to make a career change and enter the insurance and investment business working with American Family Insurance.  He completed his Doctoral studies in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology with Walden University.  He has taught with Ottawa University since 2015 and enjoys integrating his business experience for students within the classroom.

Ron Evans grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa and got his BS in History and Psychology at Iowa State.  He then moved on to Southern Illinois where he got his MA in Clinical Psychology and began to focus on an academic career.  He did a one year clinical internship at Central Louisiana State Hospital and completed his Ph.D. work in 1976. He joined the faculty at Washburn University, Topeka, KS and achieved the rank of Professor in 1985.  He began teaching online in 1999 and retired from Washburn in 2005.  Since then, he has been a freelance online instructor and consultant for several universities.

He devotes his free time to gardening, playing guitar and piano, reading, and cycling.

Instructor Sarah "Sally" Everts was born, raised, and (still) resides in the beautiful Finger Lakes region in upstate New York. She was an elementary teacher for twelve years, a School-To-Work Coordinator for five years, and an elementary principal for sixteen years. Although she recently retired from her administrative position, she stays active and up-to-date with education as a per diem substitute teacher and consultant. Dr. Everts has been an online instructor for bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels of education since 2008. She has been teaching master level courses at Ottawa since 2014.

In her spare time, Dr. Everts and her husband enjoy traveling, camping, boating, golfing, and spending time with her mother, her three grown children (and their spouses) and her six grandchildren. She is honored to be an adjunct instructor for Ottawa University.

Dr. Allen Farina was raised in Wisconsin, but currently resides in Florida.  While in Wisconsin, Dr. Farina earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Marquette University and his master’s degree in Education at Lakeland University.  In Florida, he pursued doctoral studies in Educational Leadership at Lynn University.  Dr. Farina currently works with learners at all levels of education with several universities and colleges.  He serves on dissertation committees for students pursuing doctoral degrees in Education, teaches graduate classes in Education, facilitates undergraduate courses in Sociology, and instructs students at the Associate level in Psychology.  Curriculum writing and mentoring new online faculty are also current job functions.  Past positions include teaching and administration in K-12 and higher education settings.  Dr. Farina’s passion is being of service to students with the goal of helping them build bridges to get from “where they are” to “where they want to be."  His favorite education mantra from the late and great Mr. Mandela is, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Instructor Amy Feliciano grew up in Tempe, Arizona and completed her undergraduate degree in humanities at the University of Arizona. She earned a graduate degree in English from Northern Arizona University. She has been an educator for 23 years and has taught junior high language arts as well as freshman through senior high school English. She has been an adjunct professor with Ottawa University since 2012 and is currently teaching junior English and Advanced Placement English Language in the Phoenix Union High School District. She loves to read and looks forward to discussing literary works with future students.

Michelle Flory taught in the inner city elementary schools in Phoenix, Arizona before becoming a reading specialist with her master's degree from NAU.  She then went on to teach as an adjunct faculty member for seven colleges in Arizona before relocating to Utah with her family.  She currently is an adjunct faculty member for five colleges and is completing her PhD with Utah State University in Instructional Leadership with an emphasis in Literacy.  Her specialties are curriculum, literacy and reading coursework, and children's literature.

Gary Fortney has a Master's Degree in Christian Ministries from Wheaton Graduate School and a Bachelor's degree in Christian Education from Taylor University – Fort Wayne. He has served as an education program director and specialist for over twenty years with the Arizona Department of Education.  His experience also includes administration of Christian Schools in the Phoenix area along with being a pulpit supply for several churches. Earlier experience also included serving as a youth pastor. Gary has facilitated virtual classes for seven years total. Facilitating these classes has been answer to prayer and fulfillment of a life-long vision for ministry. 

Instructor Fredstrom grew up in Phoenix with dreams of becoming an airline pilot. Mr. Fredstrom achieved this goal just before 9/11. After a long furlough, he found himself looking to fulfill his renewed life-long purpose: to help people achieve a greater potential. This new passion has led him to a career in education as a teacher, math specialist, instructional coach, and is currently serving as an assistant principal. Additionally, Mr. Fredstrom has used his Masters in Professional Counseling working with mostly children and families. Currently, he is working on his dissertation in Industrial/Organizational psychology at Grand Canyon University. Mr. Fredstrom enjoys integrating these various experiences into his teaching practice here at Ottawa University and is thrilled to help others prepare in finding their significance.

Dr. Audra Gardner was born, raised and currently lives in Silicon Valley.  She taught her first chronic disease self-management class on campus for Stanford back in 1995 and fell in love with the online format after teaching the first online version of this course in 1998. She completed her PhD coursework online, so she understands what it's like to be an online student as well as online professor. Dr. Gardner has a passion for teaching in the online environment and helping students achieve their academic and professional goals. She has taught students with a wide range of academic goals from those wishing to pursue a certificate to resident MD's. Dr. Gardner has also trained many distance educators. She currently teaches various classes at several universities and serves on about a dozen dissertation committees at any given time - and loves every minute of it!

Barbara Gast, DM, is the Vice President for United Chase Group, an executive recruiting and leadership consultancy group. She is credited with over 35 years of expertise in human resource management, performance consulting and leadership development. She held the title of vice president in the private sector of association management and marketing boards. As an agency director in the public sector, she co-authored the state code of ethics governing licensing of healthcare professionals. Dr. Gast completed her studies including the Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership, the Master of Science in Agribusiness Marketing and Management, and the Master of Arts in Organizational Management.  She is currently a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and American Society for Training and Development.  She served three years on the Arizona Cancer Society’s scientific research task force.

Dr. Gast enjoys hiking around Piestewa Peak Mountain in central Phoenix. She has one son who is an attorney in Tucson.

Instructor Bob Geiges grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and completed his undergraduate degree in Accounting from La Salle University and his master’s degree from Cleveland State University. Following his bachelors in Accounting, and a tour in the US Army, Bob began working with Deliotte Touche’. Bob successfully passed all four parts of the Certified Public Accountant certification examination on his first sitting. Bob made a career change to private industry as Controller, Corporate Controller, Vice President of Finance General/Division Manager and Chief Financial Officer with various business including Thomson Reuters, Heubcore Communications, Drake International, Prosoft Training, and several smaller startup businesses. Bob decided to return to public accounting in Arizona specializing in public company Security and Exchange Compliance. He is looking forward to facilitating learning with Ottawa University’s Master of Business Administration program. In his free time, Bob enjoys time with his family, golfing, and hiking the natural wonders of Arizona.

Susan Gonda lived her formative years in the mid-west; Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri to be exact before moving to California. While living in southern California for over 35 years, she received her nursing education and started her clinical career as a Pediatric nurse at Children's Hospital Orange County. As Dr. Gonda began to move up the administrative ladder, she soon realized that getting more education and a graduate degree was absolutely necessary. Susan was the Administrator for a very, very busy Women's and Children's Service Line in the San Fernando Valley and joined the faculty at Mount St Mary's College, teaching in the accelerated BSN program, before moving to Oregon. In Oregon, Dr. Sue was the Nursing Program Director for an upstart LPN/VN program before accepting a position in Arizona as the Program Director for an Associate Degree nursing program. With over 40 years as a registered nurse, Susan has demonstrated expertise in the areas of Service, Academia, and as a volunteer with the Arizona Nurses Association, Arizona Board of Nursing, and National League for Nurses as a program evaluation specialist. I have recently joined the Ottawa faculty while working with the Continuing Nursing Education Group and online nursing faculty.
 

James-Etta Goodloe, EdD is an Adjunct Faculty member at Ottawa University’s Indiana campus.  Dr. James-Etta earned her doctorate in Education and Adult Learning at Walden University.  She teaches liberal arts capstone courses and has served as a Subject Matter Expert for Ottawa's Online division.  As a student, Dr. James-Etta earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Management at Ottawa's Wisconsin Campus. While in Wisconsin she went on to earn her Master of Education degree from Carroll University. She has taught for Ottawa University since 2008 and enjoys guiding students through the same courses she once took as an OU student.

Judy Grady, MSW, is an adjunct professor at Ottawa University's Wisconsin campus.  She has been a practicing psychotherapist for over 30 years and currently maintains a private practice in addition to teaching.  Judy's current area of interest is in the area of neurobiology as it applies to mental wellness, and the use of mindfulness meditation and yoga as healing tools.

Judy is a Wisconsin native.  When not in the classroom or therapy office, she can be found wandering the globe, sewing in her studio, experimenting with new recipes in her kitchen, or on the yoga mat.

Instructor Leanna Graham grew up in the greater Kansas City area and is an adjunct professor at the Overland Park campus. She earned her Educational Specialist and Master's degree in Reading Education from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She has been an educator for twenty years teaching everything from early childhood through graduate level students all with outstanding student reviews. She uses real-life examples to make coursework applicable to daily living and is passionate about truly making a positive difference in the lives of everyone around her. At Ottawa University she has taught liberal arts and education courses since fall 2013.

In her free time, Professor Graham loves to support the KC Royals, travel, camp, and spend time in or on the water.

Originally from Vermont, Dr. Greenia moved to California to earn the MHA degree in 1991. Since that time he has spent his life in the warmer weather offered by the West Coast. Dr. Greenia has over twenty years of diverse experience in healthcare operations, quality management and strategic planning. He has worked in several settings, including government, for-profit, not-for-profit, academic medical centers as well as a children’s hospital. Dr. Greenia is board-certified in healthcare management and is a Fellow of the American Colleges of Healthcare Executives. 

Dr. Eric Habrel is an adjunct instructor at Ottawa University and teaches courses in the Master of Arts in Counseling program. Dr. Habrel taught at the graduate level in the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee for over 20 years and has been an adjunct faculty member at Ottawa University - Wisconsin since 2012.  He has also served as a faculty member and approved supervisor with the Family Therapy Training Institute since 1988 and provides consultation services to Aurora Family Service and Recovery Point. Dr. Habrel has been in private practice as a Psychologist in Southeastern Wisconsin since 1986. His expertise in marital and family therapy is used in his clinical work, consulting and seminar presentations as well as in the teaching, supervising and training of other mental health professionals throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. 

After a career in corporate accounting with firms such as Standard Oil in Chicago, The John Connolly Group in Iowa, and Kindercare Learning Centers in Alabama, Professor Mary Haines has served in such positions as Operations Controller, Assistant Director of Finance, Accounting Manager, and Controller. Mary has been bringing her accounting experience and passion for learning to the classroom for 18 years as an adjunct instructor for Huntingdon College and currently Ottawa University. When not teaching, Mary works part-time coordinating fundraising events to raise support for seminary student education. Most recently, she worked for a local CPA firm during tax season, redesigning their website and assisting in their conversion to a paperless environment. Active in her community, she serves on the executive board of a local non-profit and High School PTO. She resides with her husband and two sons in Overland Park, Kansas.

Instructor Hankins grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and completed her undergraduate degree at Missouri State University.  She began her career as a high school English teacher, teaching literature and composition courses, while pursuing her MLA, with a concentration in Literature.  Upon completion of her MLA degree, Instructor Hankins decided to make a career change from secondary education to post-secondary education.  She completed her MAEd with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Kansas in 2017.  She has taught with Ottawa University since 2010.

In her spare time, Instructor Hankins enjoys running, reading and spending time with her family.

Instructor Amy Hanridge was born and raised in Nebraska and completed her BA degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago and her MA degree in Anthropology from the University of Iowa. She completed Master’s field research in a neonatal nursery in New Delhi, India, comparing crisis medical decision-making there with similar decision-making in hospitals in the United States. As a cultural anthropologist, Instructor Hanridge has worked as a cross-cultural consultant with police departments and in teacher-training programs. She has assisted with research on immigrant expert scholars in the United States. Instructor Hanridge completed her MFA in Writing at Spalding University. As a writer, she has published short stories, essays, editorials and book reviews. Her short story, “Starter,” was published in 2014 in the anthology, Living in the Land of Limbo: Fiction and Poetry about Family Caregiving, printed by Vanderbilt University Press and edited by Carol Levine. Instructor Hanridge has taught online for Ottawa University since 2012 and she teaches a broad variety of liberal arts and writing courses.

Instructor Aziz earned his doctorate in Education from the University of Florida, where his work focused on engaging learners by integrating narrative gaming and simulation techniques into curriculum. He has been an educator for over the past 20 years, teaching as well as designing a broad range of academic programs. Prior to his work in academia, Dr. Aziz worked in software development, including computer game design. Currently he teaches the Games and Simulations in Education course in Ottawa University's Master of Arts in Education program. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Aziz enjoys developing Interactive Fiction computer games and photography.

Dr. Michael Hardy grew up in the Maryville, Missouri area and completed his undergraduate degree at Northwest Missouri State University. He has spent a number of years in the K-12 arena and higher education. Dr. Hardy completed his Doctorate of Education with the University of Missouri in Colombia, Missouri. He has taught with Ottawa University since 2014 and enjoys working with students at OU, sharing his experiences from the education world.

Robert “Bob” Harvey was raised in Independence, MO, and completed his BS degree in Music Education at Missouri Western State College.  He attended Michigan State University, earning a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance.  Mr. Harvey splits his time between music education and music performance.  He taught for 29 years in the Lee’s Summit (MO) R-7 School District, working primarily with elementary band students.  He has taught at MWSU in the trumpet studio, and maintains a private studio at home.  He holds the position of Principal Trumpet in the St. Joseph Symphony.  As a member of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra he splits the Lead Trumpet duties in addition to being one of many soloists in the group.  Bob also works extensively in Kansas City and the surrounding region as a free-lance trumpeter.

Janet grew up in Kentucky and completed the BA degree in Organizational/HR Administration at Alaska Pacific University.  While living in Anchorage, Alaska she began graduate studies at Fielding Graduate University; completing the Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Change in 2002, area of specialization leadership and change management.  Dr. Haynes' work includes the following:  real estate broker, human resource/risk management, aircraft and freight movement management, social services and behavioral health credentialing facilitator, behavioral health center service delivery development,  curriculum reviewer and grant writing.  She has taught professional development/licensure credentialing, undergraduate and graduate students; also serving on doctoral dissertation committees.  In her spare time she enjoys travel and community service projects.  Dr. Haynes considers teaching at Ottawa University a privilege because of the student body and staff.

Dr. Justin Henry grew up in Sterling, Kansas and completed his undergraduate degrees at Sterling College. While teaching high school Chemistry and Physics at Ottawa High School, he completed his Master's of Science from Emporia State University. After completing this degree, Dr. Henry served three years as an assistant principal at Ottawa High and three years as the principal while earning his Doctorate of Education at the University of Kansas.

Dr. Henry has served as a Kansas superintendent for over a decade, first serving four years in the Southeast of Saline School district and currently in USD 265, Goddard Public Schools. In addition to serving as a superintendent, Dr. Henry is a consultant for the McPherson and Jacobson Executive Search Firm, teaches at Ottawa University and is active in multiple professional organizations including the Kansas School Superintendents Association, the American Association of School Administrators, Suburban School Superintendents, and the Mid-American Association of School Superintendents.

Michael Henry grew up in Los Angeles, California and completed his undergraduate degree in Communications at University of Wisconsin, Madison.  He worked in television production at WHA-TV in Madison, as well as corporate video production in Los Angeles.  While in Los Angeles, he received a Career Technical Education Teaching Credential from UCLA in Television Production and taught through the Regional Occupational Program in Los Angeles County.  He earned his Master’s in Education from KU and has taught Public Relations, Organizational Communications, Media Writing and Media Production. He has taught with Ottawa University since 2010 and enjoys integrating his multimedia and travel experiences for students within the classroom.

Instructor Diane Hobson, Ed. D, was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and moved to Athens, OH to complete her BS degree in Secondary Education (English, Speech, Journalism, Reading) and her MA in Educational Technology. For her doctorate work, she opted for a combined online and face-to-face format and earned an Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Distance Education. Her dissertation work focused on learning styles and learning preferences of low socioeconomic students in a technology setting. She continues to be interested in research that deals with determining factors that improve online education, instructional design that compliments the learning styles of online students, and the globalization of education due to virtual learning. She has several articles published in Distance Learning magazine regarding quality in online instruction. She has been involved in education since 1992 and has taught English and reading to middle school students, reading and math to gifted students, educational technology courses, and serves as the director of curriculum and testing for a local school district.  She has also worked as an adjunct instructor for Ottawa University since 2009 teaching courses for the Master of Arts in Education program.

Allison Hubley completed her undergraduate degree in Political Science at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She spent the early years of her career working in various positions with the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan, and served as the Chief Operating Officer of Quality Healthcare Providers, P.C. in Dearborn, Michigan. She then transitioned into higher education on a fulltime basis in 2003.  While working as a project manager at HFHS, Ms. Hubley earned a Master of Science in Administration with a concentration in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Business Administration from Wayne State University.  She also holds a post-baccalaureate certificate in forensic accounting and fraud examination and works in a volunteer capacity with law enforcement. She enjoys conducting seminars to senior citizens and small business owners on fraud awareness and fraud prevention; she is the author of a bi-monthly "Scam Alert" column for a senior services newsletter. Ms. Hubley has been with Ottawa University since 2007 and teaches online courses as well as in-class courses at the Phoenix Campus.

Micheal earned his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from UCLA and his Master's Degree in Psychology from Pepperdine University. He teaches several different psychology courses at Ottawa University. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he currently works with adolescents at a high school in a counseling and teaching capacity. He is interested in the way gender influences behavior and his emphasis is in counseling and diagnosing mental disorders as well as human sexuality. He also has a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA to aid his students in their future academic goals.

In Michael’s free time he enjoys cooking, bowling, spending time with his family, and of course, talking about psychology!

Instructor Darvelle Hutchins grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and completed his undergraduate degree in Communication Studies in Leadership at Ottawa University-Brookfield. While earning his undergraduate degree, he spent the majority of his career in the financial services industry at Waukesha State Bank, U.S. Bank, and PNC Bank starting as a Personal Banker and worked his way to Senior Financial Sales Consultant. After completing undergraduate studies in Wisconsin, Mr. Hutchins pursued a Master of Business Administration degree at Ottawa University. Upon completion of his MBA degree, he decided to make a career change to pursue his interest in the field of Human Resources at Quad/Graphics where he worked as HR Generalist. Having spent nearly a decade as a practitioner, Mr. Hutchins sought to transfer his knowledge by applying to an Adjunct role at Waukesha County Technical College where he taught Oral/Interpersonal Communication. Soon after entering the academy, Mr. Hutchins felt deeply burdened and a call to explore the communicative challenges that manifest in organizing. He then returned to graduate school at Marquette University where he earned a MA degree in Communication. More recently, Mr. Hutchins is a doctoral student at the University of Missouri where he studies Organizational Communication. His research explores issues related to diversity, race, and stigmatized identities in organized settings. He has taught with Ottawa University since 2017 and enjoys working with students to explore and unearth a variety of communicative challenges so that they are well equipped to tackle immediate and future organizational needs. He believes that by helping students discover their career interests and purpose is key to living a life of significance. 

Rick grew up in Ventura, California where he majored in Criminal Justice and played football at Ventura College. He spent 13 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections as a Correctional Officer and a Parole Officer. He served 3 years in the prison as a tactical operator while supervising inmate workers in construction projects. After several years as an officer, Rick began a degree in education in order to instruct college students. Three years later, he decided to concentrate solely on educating future law enforcement officers and retired early. Rick is in his first year with Ottawa University. He also instructs at local community colleges in the Phoenix area and teaches a high school law and public safety program. Rick has written a college textbook on Corrections, which is in final layout for publication. When not assisting and educating students, Rick likes watching football and riding his Harley Davidson.

W. Kesler Jackson has taught American history, international relations, Western civilization, world history, Asian history, South Asian religion-and-politics, Middle East history, 19th-century European imperialism, and historiography at multiple colleges and universities. Among other things, his research focuses on a major religio-political schism within South Asian revivalist Islam and its impact on the making of modern India and Pakistan. Before his graduate studies, he worked as a South Asia analyst in the Washington, DC area. The author of multiple books and articles, he is currently working on two monographs:  a history of the Deobandi-Barelvi rivalry in Pakistan and a history of the weeks leading up to the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Instructor Johnson is an Arizona native. From a very young age she realized that caring for others was her calling in life. This calling brought her to pursue her first degree in nursing. She enjoyed caring for others throughout the entire healthcare setting. When the opportunity presented itself, she found herself teaching high school students, prepping them to become certified nursing assistants. This opportunity sparked her love of education. This love brought to her through her next two educational journeys. She is committed to create: safe, efficient, confident, caring, and competent future nurses. Finding herself spending time in the classroom, clinical setting, simulation learning lab, and online arena teaching nurses and future nurses. In her spare time she enjoys doing anything outdoors from paddle boarding to hiking to just sitting on the patio reading a good book.

Dr. Jennifer Johnson is an Adjunct Instructor within Ottawa University's Arizona-based School Psychology program.  Dr. Johnson, a recipient of Arizona State University's Leadership Scholarship, earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology in 1992 and, from there, relocated to Florida.  While in Florida, she earned her masters, specialist and doctoral degrees in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis in School Psychology from the University of South Florida. Following the completion of her program, she returned to Arizona to be closer to family.  She has now been a practitioner for over 20 years and currently serves as the Director of Psychological Services for Edkey, Inc./Sequoia Charter schools which maintains sites throughout the state of Arizona.  Dr. Johnson is a former president of the Arizona Association of School Psychologists and remains an active member in both her state and national professional organizations.  Her professional interests include consultation, special education law and program development.   In her free time, Dr. Johnson enjoys reading, exercising, writing, and spending time with her family and pets.

Kasey Johnson holds a doctoral degree in Ethical Leadership from Olivet Nazarene University and has over 15 years of experience in education. She has taught music, Language Arts, and Social Studies at the Elementary, Middle, and High School levels. Her research has centered around the history of language within the United States, the process of second language acquisition, and the role education plays in helping English Language Learners (ELLs) assimilate to the curriculum and culture at school.

As a master educator, she has participated in building leadership teams, mentoring other teachers, and team lead for ELL and music. She brings her experience to Ottawa University as the subject matter expert for TESOL and professor in charge for the developing TESOL program.

Kasey lives in Overland Park, KS with her husband, three boys, and two dogs. Throughout the week, she teaches full-time at Indian Trail Middle School as the ELL ELA and Newcomers teacher and ELL Team Lead. When she isn’t in the classroom, Kasey and her dog, Everett, serve with Pets for Life and Children’s Mercy Hospital as a therapy dog team. Everett also comes to school with Kasey to help students dealing with trauma and encourage students to read out loud. 

Instructor, Heidi Kammer-Hodge is pleased to serve as adjunct faculty for the Ottawa University, online addiction program. Professionally, she maintains over twenty years as a leader, executive, consultant, and provider in behavioral health and integrated care.  Instructor Kammer-Hodge has a Masters in Social Work with emphasis in family practice and policy/ administration from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of South Dakota in social work and addictions studies.  She is a licensed mental health professional and licensed addiction professional.  Instructor Kammer-Hodge has served as a senior and executive leader for over ten years.  In addition, she maintains a consulting firm that specializes in evaluation, grant writing, and infrastructure development with non profit organizations.  She serves as adjunct faculty with the University of Minnesota, Ottawa University, and Briar Cliff University. Instructor, Heidi Kammer-Hodge grew up on a farm in Bloomfield, Nebraska. Prior to relocating to Iowa in 2016 to be closer to family where she grew up, she was in the Twin Cities- Minneapolis, Minnesota for seventeen years. She has two beautiful daughters, Emily (14) and Grace (11) with her husband, Vince. She has taught with Ottawa University since 2018 and enjoys integrating her behavioral health clinical and business experience to support students for career success.

Todd Kane’s experience in business, healthcare and healthcare administration spans 25 years during which time he has served as:   the president and CEO of a multi-million dollar private national healthcare recruitment and outsourcing firm for more than a decade; the vice president of a publically traded healthcare staffing and outsourcing firm; and in various other leadership positions including chief operating officer, regional vice president, regional director, and more. In 2009, Todd decided to share his experiences with others through teaching and mentoring undergraduate, graduate, and certificate learners at a variety of universities and other institutions of higher learning.

Marjorie Kaplan, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Professor in the Educational Leadership Department at Ottawa in Phoenix. Dr. Kaplan earned her doctorate in Educational Administration at Arizona State University. She has been a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent. Most of her experience has been in Arizona, except for 16 years when she served as superintendent of the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas.  In Phoenix, she was superintendent of Paradise Valley Unified for eight years and assistant superintendent there for three years. She lives in the Phoenix area and, most recently, was director of a training program for principals at Arizona State University. She was an Adjunct Professor at ASU for 15 years and has taught at Ottawa for 24 years. She has been honored as Arizona Superintendent of the Year. 

Born and raised in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Amber's college studies led her to move to Lawrence, Kansas to attend the University of Kansas, where she studied euphonium with Scott Watson and trombone with Dr. Michael Davidson. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in music education she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, to pursue a master's degree in trombone performance with Dr. Scott Anderson. Kaul was a member of the 2014 All American College Band at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, bass trombonist for the Eutiner Festspiele in Eutin, Germany, for three seasons, and has subbed with the Omaha Symphony, Kansas City Civic Orchestra, Jim Lower Big Band, New World Order Big Band, and Boulevard Big Band. Currently she teaches elementary music full-time, teaches lessons, and performs in her spare time. 

Her professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education and the Kansas Music Educators Association. 

Michael Keelan is music director at Kansas Public Radio, a news/classical NPR network in the greater Kansas City area. He hosts recordings, interviews, and live performances weekdays from 9 AM-noon. Previously he hosted Nebraska Concerts on NET Radio in Lincoln.

Keelan began his career as a violinist with the Lincoln Symphony and his own musical family. He attended Baldwin Wallace Conservatory near Cleveland, and was a member of the Fairfax (VA) Symphony outside Washington, D.C., while earning a master’s degree at the University of Maryland-College Park. He served as full-time artist/instructor of upper strings at the Wausau (WI) Conservatory of Music from 2004-08, also conducting the Wausau Area Youth Symphony. In 2004 he began playing as concertmaster of the Green Bay Symphony, continuing until 2013, where he worked with numerous international soloists. While there, he conducted for the symphony’s youth orchestra program. In the summers of 2010 and 2011 he taught and conducted at Baldwin Wallace’s Summer Music Institute, and he returned in 2014 as recitalist for the university’s nationally known festival of J.S. Bach’s music.  In 2011, he was soloist with the Sioux City (IA) Symphony in John Corigliano's Red Violin Chaconne, and in 2012 served as guest concertmaster of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra for the convention of the International Clarinet Association. From 2011-15 he played extensively for the Omaha Symphony and became a member, concurrently teaching strings at Concordia University-Nebraska. He worked regularly as a coach and adjudicator with Omaha and Nebraska all-state youth orchestras. 

Michael Keelan is music director at Kansas Public Radio, a news/classical NPR network in the greater Kansas City area. He hosts recordings, interviews, and live performances weekdays from 9 AM-noon. Previously he hosted Nebraska Concerts on NET Radio in Lincoln.
 
Keelan began his career as a violinist with the Lincoln Symphony and his own musical family. He attended Baldwin Wallace Conservatory near Cleveland, and was a member of the Fairfax (VA) Symphony outside Washington, D.C., while earning a master’s degree at the University of Maryland-College Park.

He served as full-time artist/instructor of upper strings at the Wausau (WI) Conservatory of Music from 2004-08, also conducting the Wausau Area Youth Symphony. In 2004 he began playing as concertmaster of the Green Bay Symphony, continuing until 2013, where he worked with numerous international soloists. While there, he conducted for the symphony’s youth orchestra program.

In the summers of 2010 and 2011 he taught and conducted at Baldwin Wallace’s Summer Music Institute, and he returned in 2014 as recitalist for the university’s nationally known festival of J.S. Bach’s music.  In 2011, he was soloist with the Sioux City (IA) Symphony in John Corigliano's Red Violin Chaconne, and in 2012 served as guest concertmaster of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra for the convention of the International Clarinet Association.

From 2011-15 he played extensively for the Omaha Symphony and became a member, concurrently teaching strings at Concordia University-Nebraska. He worked regularly as a coach and adjudicator with Omaha and Nebraska all-state youth orchestras.

Kent Kessinger grew up in Lindsborg, KS and completed his undergraduate degree at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS.  His teaching career and coaching career has taken him from Kansas, to Minnesota, to South Dakota and back to Kansas.  While at Minnesota State University Mr. Kessinger obtained a master’s degree in the MSUM Department of Human Performance in Physical Education with a concentration in Preventative and Rehabilitative Cardiovascular Health.  The majority of his teaching experience has been at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD and Ottawa University.  While at both institutions he has taught a number of courses in the Physical Education and Exercise Science majors.  Mr. Kessinger’s teaching experience includes: Kinesiology, Biomechanics, Introduction to Stress Management, Psychology and Sociology of Sport, and Sports Nutrition.  Mr. Kessinger is currently pursuing his Ph.D in Exercise Science at Concordia University in Chicago. 

Instructor King has been a nurse educator for nearly 20 years before coming to teach at OU.  She has been a nurse in the hospital setting working in OB and infection control, in home health and correctional settings, and she has worked as an APRN before entering education.  She has taught at the associate degree, baccalaureate, and master's level of nursing and is excited to bring her educational expertise to students at Ottawa University.  In her free time, Dr. King loves gardening, quilting, and being with her family.

April Klasko grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and completed her associates degree in nursing at Phoenix Community College. She started her nursing career as an RN in Labor and Delivery at an inner city hospital in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and became Assistant Director for a high risk Labor and Delivery unit at the same hospital. She obtained her BSN at Arizona State University and then her MSN at Grand Canyon University. She has worked for the same healthcare organization for over 20 years in various roles including Quality, Risk and Peer Review. She recently started her journey with Ottawa University in January 2018. She is looking forward to using her educational and employment experience to help students in the nursing program be successful and while enjoying their education experience.

Anna Koch, PhD is an adjunct instructor at Ottawa University teaching online Addiction Counseling courses.  She is a licensed independent counselor in Texas and New Mexico. Dr. Koch’s research focuses on addictions, counselor supervision, veterans, and rehabilitation. Dr. Koch loves to travel, go fishing, go hiking with her family and two dogs, and crossfit. 

Aaron grew up in West Allis, Wisconsin and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He completed his law degree at Thomas M. Cooley Law School while living in Lansing, Michigan. Upon returning to Wisconsin, he worked as legal counsel for Milwaukee County's Child Support Enforcement Division. Aaron left the County to pursue dual masters programs, obtaining an MS in Health Care Management and an LLM in Health Law simultaneously at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Graduate School of Business and at DePaul University's College of Law. Upon completion of these degrees, Aaron worked in the private sector as a litigation attorney in various areas, including, but not limited to:  health care law, insurance defense, plaintiff's personal injury, and employment law. Aaron left the private sector to work as a prosecuting attorney with a Wisconsin state agency pursuing complaints against physicians, nurses and other various health care professionals on behalf of their respective licensing boards.

For the past four years, Aaron has been working as an administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing cases with a high volume calendar resolving disputes between applicants, respondents and insurance carriers. Aaron also proudly serves his country as a Captain in the Wisconsin Air National Guard, serving as a JAG officer. Aaron has taught at a number of Universities for the past 12 years and has been an instructor with Ottawa since 2009. Aaron enjoys bringing his experience in both the private and public sectors to his students in a practical manner.

Instructor Alana Kopp grew up an Air Force brat and finished her high school years on the family's historical farm in Kimball, Minnesota. She completed her Associate of Arts and Bachelor degrees in Rochester, Minnesota. In the early 1990's she moved to the west coast to begin her teaching career in San Bernardino, California and pursued her master degree in pupil personnel services. Alana has spent over 25 years in education within the public schools as classroom teacher, instructional coach (including turn-around coaching with Arizona Department of Education) and elementary school counselor. Alana began teaching with Ottawa in the Master of Arts in Education in the School Counseling program in 2017 and wishes she had begun this endeavor earlier. She is a pastor's wife and mother of two young men. Ministry and family keep her active and she loves relaxing at the beach.  

Instructor Tina Lamb grew up in Michigan, but currently lives in Central Wisconsin. During and after eight and a half years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, Dr. Lamb continued her education, obtaining an Associates' degree in Liberal Arts, a BBA in Human Resource Management, an MBA in General Business, an MBA in Marketing, and a PhD in Organization and Management. Upon completion of her PhD degree in Organization & Management with Capella University, Dr. Lamb decided to make a career change and enter academia.  She has taught with Ottawa University since 2014 and enjoys integrating her business experience for students within the classroom. Dr. Lamb also teaches business courses for other online universities across the country. 

Instructor Lang grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Arizona University.  He has always been passionate about teaching and has been an educator for the past 20 years at Mountain Ridge High School.  There, he currently teaches Pre-Calculus Honors and AP Calculus AB.  As an adjunct instructor for Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona, he is excited to teach math to young adults that are eager to learn.  His hobbies include, playing and coaching soccer, snowboarding, playing drums, hiking and spending time with his family.

Elizabeth Lemp is an Adjunct Instructor of Human Services at Ottawa University.  She graduated from Ottawa University with a double major in Human Services and Sociology in 1998, and has nearly 20 years’ experience in serving children and families.  Her service has included work in community mental health, early care and education, medical social work, non-profit management and community development in Kansas and Iowa.  While in Iowa, Elizabeth completed a Master of Social Work degree with an emphasis in Family Centered Practice from the University of Iowa.  During this time, she conducted primary research on the relationship between mindfulness and empathy in the helping profession and contributed to academic research on postsecondary social work education and social work policy. 

Elizabeth is a Licensed Master of Social Work in Kansas and serves as a staff clinician and member of the Trauma Informed Care Team at Family Service and Guidance Center in Topeka, KS.  She is also a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the International Association of Trauma Professionals.  As a practitioner, Elizabeth’s approach is authentic, client-centered and strength based.   She brings these same traits to the classroom along with a focus on best practice, high ethical standards and cultural humility as she helps to prepare students to serve in our changing world.  

Aline Lindemann divides her time between Phoenix, Arizona and Cape Cod, Massachusets. She teaches for Ottawa University Online, and for the Masters of Liberal Studies program at Arizona State University. Aline is also a freelance writer; her work appears within Harvard Divinity School's Religious Literacy Project website, and in various magazines. Current research focuses on the intersection of spirituality and natural environments. When she isn't writing or teaching, Aline is happiest traveling or spending time outdoors hiking, gardening or standup paddling. 

Aaron Linscheid is a trumpet performer and educator based in Kansas City and a music faculty member at Ottawa University, where he teaches applied trumpet and horn. He has also directed the Braves Pep Band and taught the course Jazz in America at OU. In addition to his work as an educator, Linscheid is also an accomplished performer.  Recent performances include with his own trio, the Diamond Empire Band and performances of original works with Clint Ashlock’s New Jazz Order. Linscheid has also played in the Michael Pagán Big Band. He enjoys teaching younger students in his role as a faculty member at the Village Music Academy in Prairie Village, Kansas. 

Linscheid earned a Bachelor in Music degree at Bethel College before completing two master’s degrees – one in trumpet performance and the other in jazz studies – at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. Before moving to Kansas City, he spent several summers in the Education Department of the New York Philharmonic. In his free time, Linscheid enjoys spending time with his wife, two sons and two dogs. He loves the vibrant musical community that he has found in Kansas City and is excited to share his passion for music with the student, faculty and alumni of Ottawa University.

Instructor Low, MSN, RN, OCN, CMSRN was raised in Southern California and was inspired by the example of her mother to become a nurse. She attended UCLA and obtained her BA in English Literature, and then went on to complete her MSN in their Masters of Entry Level Clinical Nursing (MECN) program as well as participate in nursing research. Her background is in Hematology-Oncology and  and Medical-Surgical nurse education at a large hospital in Los Angeles. She recently joined Ottawa University in 2017 and looks forward to helping prepare students to obtain their BSN and become nurses who transform lives. 

Dr. Luttrell has taught as an Ottawa University adjunct since 2010.  He earned BS and MS degrees in Biology (Aquatic Emphasis) from Pittsburg State University and a PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Ecology from Oklahoma State University.  Dr. Luttrell has spent most of his career researching fish ecology in midwestern aquatic ecosystems and enjoys integrating his extensive ecological consulting experience into biology classroom and laboratory activities.

A.J. Lutz has been an adjunct instructor at several Universities in the Kansas City metropolitan area since 1993. He has complimented his academic success with real-world experience and application which he draws on from his private sector experience. Working for several small area companies, as well as seven years as an account representative with Fortune Brands, A.J. developed a foundation for running a small business for over twenty years.

In his personal life, A.J. enjoys sports and movies, as well as cooking and grilling out.

Dr. Magnuson has been a lifelong resident of Wisconsin and earned his baccalaureate in Psychology at Upper Iowa University. He earned his Master's degree in Community Psychology with a focus on Medicine, Society and Culture at Springfield University. After earning his Master’s degree, Dr. Magnuson began teaching psychology and statistics for the social science courses. He has taught with Ottawa University since 2005.

Dr. Magnuson earned his Doctoral degree in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Christopher enjoys working with people who have a vested interest in changing the world through education. His teaching techniques may best be summed up as “outside of the box” and he loves learning from new experiences. He believes that you should enjoy your work and that work should be interesting and challenging.

Kathy Markley grew up near Chicago, Illinois and completed her undergraduate degree (BA) at the University of Iowa.  For 5 years she taught 6th grade in Des Moines, before moving to Overland Park.  She taught in Center School District for 25 years, and during that time taught some seminars on Fred Jones’ Tools for Teaching classroom management at Baker University.  Professor Markley also received her MAT degree during this time from Webster University.  After retirement she became an adjunct supervisor for Ottawa University’s education program and is still very involved.  In her free time she travels with her husband and enjoys spending time with her daughter and grandson.

Hatshepsitu Massey was born and raised in Washington, DC. (Yes, she is one of the few who is not a transplant. :-)  She loves attending music concerts and plays and has a passion for food: cooking shows, learning new recipes, eating at the different restaurants like all of the trendy and new food trucks in the Washington, DC area.

Hatshepsitu received her Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and decided to return home for graduate school afterwards. She received her Master’s in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation from the University of Maryland, College Park. She has been a tutor since her freshman year in college, so it was a natural fit for her to be a teaching assistant in graduate school. There Hatschepsitu really discovered that her passion was helping others better understand math and helping them discover that math can actually be fun. In addition, Hatshepsitu has been a mathematics tutor for students ranging in ages from elementary school through college for over 15 years.

Ms. Karen McKenzie McAdoo is proud to be the third generation of her family line to graduate from Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas. Her grandmother Genevieve Rock Petersen, graduated in 1909; her parents, Dr. & Mrs. Emory and Harma (Petersen) McKenzie graduated in 1945; Karen in 1972, and her oldest son Kevin graduated in 2000. "I grew up on the campus, as Dad was the head of the English department for over 30 years."

After graduation from OU, McKenzie McAdoo taught art in Kansas public schools at the secondary level for 20 years, shifting over to teaching at the college level in 1992. She has taught at three community colleges, including NeoshoCCC in Ottawa, and tutored in the athletic department at KU.  Along with teaching college classes in public speaking and interpersonal communication, she spent 6 years at the local radio station as the News Director. She also taught studio arts and art history & survey classes, digital photography, sociology, English composition, and psychology classes at the three community colleges.

She spent several years serving on the OU alumni board, and a term as Alumni President. Now, she is teaching the studio art classes in the MAC on the OU campus. "Ms. Mac" enjoys traveling (heading to Europe as often as possible) and has visited 45 of the 50 states, and gardening, both of which inspires her photography.  You will rarely see her without a camera at hand.

Instructor McClintock grew up in Neosho, Missouri and completed his undergraduate degree at Ottawa University.  He played basketball and graduated with a degree in Physical Education while at Ottawa.  Phil then moved to Fulton, Missouri to serve as a Graduate Assistant Men’s Basketball coach at William Woods University for two years. While coaching, he completed his master’s degree in athletic administration. After those two years, Phil took a head high school coaching position at Salem High School in Salem, Missouri. In addition to coaching basketball, he was a middle school Health and Physical Education teacher. He also coached golf, cross country, and middle school girls basketball. In 2015, he came back to Ottawa University to serve as Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach and Instructor in the School of Education. 

Dr. Meehan has spent most of his career in the financial services, electric utility, consumer electronics, and high-tech industries, working in various human resources and consulting roles.  He has had leadership responsibility for talent management, HRIS, compensation, and benefits.  In academia, he was an adjunct Associate Professor of Management at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and has taught at Ottawa University since 2009. He is a member of WorldatWork; he served on their seminar faculty for 20 years, is a former Committee Chair and Board member, and holds both Compensation and Benefits certifications.  Dr. Meehan is a Founding Board Member of the Arizona Total Rewards Association. He also served on the Society for Human Resources Management’s Compensation and Benefits Committee. Dr. Meehan has published extensively with over 20 articles, book chapters, case studies, and conference presentations to his credit.

Dr. Meek earned a BA in History and Spanish from Henderson State University, an MA in Biblical Languages from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a PhD in Biblical Studies (Old Testament) from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has authored, co-authored and edited numerous books, journal articles and essays. His primary research interest is in Old Testament Wisdom literature, particularly the book of Ecclesiastes.

Susan Mefford was raised in Indiana and moved to Colorado after graduation. She completed her MS degree in Organizational Leadership/Project Management at Regis University. She has worked in business as a project manager for over 25 years. She is a retired Certified Project Manager and a past Board of Director member for a local community. For the last five years and counting, she volunteers at a local hospital. She has been teaching business ethics at Ottawa University for the past seven years as an adjunct instructor. Her passion is to help adult learners understand book concepts, so that they can be adapted to everyday life and business situations.
In her free time, her activities are golf and keeping up with her husband and six grand-children.

Arian T. Moore, Ph.D. has 15+ years of experience in the field of communications after working in radio, television, and print. She is the publisher of Bibs & Business Magazine, a magazine geared towards working moms, helping them find support, tools and resources for work-life balance. She has a doctorate in organizational leadership  from Regent University, a Masters of Arts in journalism from Regent University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Howard University. Dr. Moore serves as adjunct faculty for a number of universities, teaching leadership, journalism and communications courses.

Dr. Moore entered the field of education as a 2007 Teach For America Corps Member, where he taught middle school in South Phoenix. After his time in the classroom, Dr. Moore became a Reading Specialist where he assisted his colleagues in implementing effective reading instruction. In 2012, he transitioned to school administration, where he most recently served as Principal of one of the largest K-8 schools in South Phoenix. He also began serving at Ottawa University as an adjunct instructor in 2012 and has taught a multitude of courses ranging from Philosophy, Accountability, and Change to Educational Statistical Methods. In 2016, Dr. Moore became the Deputy Associate Superintendent of K-12 Academic Standards at the Arizona Department of Education. When not working on behalf of the students and educators in Arizona, Dr. Moore enjoys time on the tennis court and traveling. 

Instructor Dena Morgan grew up in New Jersey and completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Western Maryland College.  In 2001, she relocated to Arizona and pursued her MA – Education with a concentration in school counseling. She was a school counselor for 12 years and has worked with all K-12 age groups specializing in Conflict Resolution, Anti-Bullying, Crisis Intervention, and Trauma and Grief Counseling. In 2010, Ms. Morgan decided to make a career change with the intent of working in the juvenile court system.  She completed a second graduate degree in Forensic Psychology in 2013 with Argosy University and left the school counseling realm in 2014 to work with Pinal County Juvenile Court as a Dependency Mediator and Integrated Family Court Coordinator. She was then offered a Clinical Supervisor position through Pinal County Conciliation Court. In her current position as Clinical Supervisor, Ms. Morgan oversees a team of clinicians, conducts family assessments to provide recommendations to the Court on custody matters such as legal decision-making and parenting time, as well as other services to help families experiencing separation or divorce. She has been teaching with Ottawa University in Arizona as an Adjunct since 2009 in the Masters of Education – School Counseling program, and is a member of Ottawa University’s School Guidance Advisory Board. In her free time, Ms. Morgan loves to travel, run, hike and spend time with her family.

Instructor Morris, a son of an Army Veteran, was raised in Sierra Vista Arizona and completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Norfolk State University in Virginia. While at Norfolk State, Michael was a NCAA National Champion in Track and Field during the 1991 season. After sports Michael began his career in education, where he has served as an elementary and middle school teacher for nearly 10 years in the Phoenix, metropolitan area.

In 2003 he obtained his Master Degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. In 2007 he obtained a Masters in Guidance Counseling from Ottawa University, upon which he began serving as a Guidance Counselor in Phoenix, Arizona.  During the past 10 years, Michael has worked as an adjunct instructor at several Community Colleges and Technical Colleges. His passion for education and community empowerment, led Michael to complete a Masters in Professional Writing from Northern Arizona University in 2017. Upon completion of his degree, Michael began working with Ottawa University as an English instructor. His love for working with students motivated him to continue coaching high school girls varsity basketball and a volunteer with high school track and field. Michael has a strong connection to his community and to his students. He possess the passion and dedication to help all students become successful.

Daniel Mudge has served as visiting and adjunct faculty at several different universities earning recognition as one of Ohio’s top educators in 2007.  Dan’s academic credentials include a Masters in Public Administration as well as a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership from Troy University.  Additionally, he possesses a Master of Business Administration from National University.  His undergraduate work was completed at the United States Merchant Marine Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering.  Dan’s professional credentials include licensure as a U.S. Merchant Marine Officer and designation as a Power Engineer.

His full time job is with the Federal government and, like Forrest Gump, that is all he can say about that.  Prior to that, Dan flew F-14 TOMCAT aircraft for the U.S. Navy with subsequent assignments to garden spots such as the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Instructor Dr. Rebecca Mullane grew up in Necedah, Wisconsin and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.  After graduation, she worked in the Marketing Department for an insurance company before starting in Admissions and Recruitment at the University of Wisconsin - Waukesha. While workinig at UW-Waukesha, she returned to school in the evenings and online to complete her Master's Degree in Communication from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Shortly after, she transferred to the University of Wisconsin - Sheboygan to work as a Student Success Coordinator with at-risk students. During this time, she returned to school again in the evenings and online to complete her Doctorate in Communication from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. For the past five years she has taught Communication courses full-time at Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She has taught as an adjunct for Ottawa University since early 2016 and enjoys working with students taking online courses. 

Dr. Tony Muscia is President and CEO of Global Communication Alliance which specializes in educational consulting and seminar development. His background includes a unique blend of corporate, entrepreneurial and educational experience combined with extensive classroom teaching.

Previously, Dr. Muscia served as a Consulting Advisor for the Portman Institute of Technology in Singapore. He was also Executive Director of the International MBA Program and Director of International Business Programs at Arcadia University. Prior to his tenure at Arcadia, he served in a dual role as Director of Graduate Business Studies and Director of Enrollment Management at Ottawa University.

Dr. Muscia has owned and operated ten businesses, and his corporate experience includes serving as Chief Executive Officer at the Speakers Academy, Inc. as well as senior management positions in several multi-million dollar companies. He was also a marketing and management strategist for the Small Business Development Center in Arizona.

In addition, Dr. Muscia was Director of the Small Business Management Program and the Casino Management Program at Scottsdale Community College.  While at Western International University, he was appointed Chair of Graduate Business Programs and Chair of the Marketing Department.

Jane Nelson grew up in the panhandle of Florida and completed her BS degree in Elementary Education from Florida State University. She received an MLS degree from University of California in Library Science and then attended Northwest Missouri State University and received her Educational Specialist degree in Educational Administration.  She has taught all grade levels from kindergarten to high school and has teaching experience in Georgia, Florida, California, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. She has also served as an adjunct instructor at Iowa Western Junior College and Red Oak Junior College in Iowa. She has taught at Ottawa University since 2003 and enjoys sharing her educational experiences and knowledge of curriculum with students within the classroom.

In her free time, she loves to read and spend time training her Labrador Retriever for field trails.

Dr. Jack Nemecek is a full-time university professor who has completed two careers, one in healthcare administration and one in public health. He holds a PhD in Public Health from Walden University, an MBA and BBA in Healthcare Administration from National University, and an AS in Allied Health from George Washington University.

Dr. Nemecek has taught nearly all course offerings that are healthcare administration and/or public health related, at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level. He also has experience mentoring doctoral students as committee Chairperson, and committee member. He is an expert at course development, serving as a subject matter expert on numerous university committees.

Dr. Nemecek began his career in military medicine as an Independent Duty Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy. After 12 years as an enlisted man, he was Commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps as a healthcare administrator. He served on active duty for 22 years, serving in numerous capacities as a senior level healthcare administrator, to include:  Director of Human Resources, Director of Education/Training, Director of Operations, Director of Administration, and Director of U. S. Navy Healthcare Construction West Coast Operations.

Upon his retirement from the U. S. Navy, Dr. Nemecek began another career as a Public Health Advisor with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For another 20 years, he served in numerous capacities including grants management and as Deputy Branch Chief for the Education, Information and Partnership Branch of the National Immunization Program.

Dr. Nemecek was born and raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. He is married with three sons and four grandchildren, residing in Ft. Myers, Florida. In his leisure time he golfs, gardens and reads for pleasure. 

Jon Niccum is an award-winning journalist, author and screenwriter. Since 2011, he has been an entertainment writer and critic for the Kansas City Star. Prior to that he spent 10 years as an editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and its website Lawrence.com, and seven years as an editor at The Pitch, the Kansas City alt-weekly newspaper.

He is the author of “The Worst Gig: From Psycho Fans to Stage Riots, Famous Musicians Tell All.”

He graduated KU’s film department in 1989. He has taught journalism and film at KU since 2013 and at Ottawa University since 2015.

Instructor Nielsen is an adjunct professor of School Psychology in Ottawa's Phoenix and Queen Creek campuses, teaching a variety of graduate level school psychology courses. He also teaches Educational Psychology online for Ottawa. He grew up in Cedar Hills, Utah and earned a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Spanish from Utah State University. He then earned a Master's in Education and an Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology from Idaho State University. Edward has been working as a Nationally Certified Bilingual School Psychologist for 9 years. He also taught for the behavioral sciences department at Utah Valley University for three years before moving to Arizona. He loves working in schools as a school psychologist and being able to bring that experience to the classroom, teaching future school psychologists and teachers. In his free time he likes to spend time with his family, going to the movies and taking family trips. He also loves to watch basketball with his children.

Brigit Olsen, PhD completed her BA in Business Administration and Youth Ministry at North Park University in Chicago, IL and then completed her MBA at North Park's School of Business. She went on to pursue her PhD in Psychology from Walden University. Brigit has been an adjunct faculty member with Ottawa University's online campus since 2011 and currently resides in Brookfield, WI. She also owns a consulting firm and works throughout the Midwest on organizational development projects in a variety of industries including education, health care, construction, and more. Brigit has held leadership positions in both the academic and corporate realms, and currently enjoys teaching courses in Organizational Psychology, Human Resources and Leadership, balancing this work with her consulting clients. Brigit's approach keeps her balanced in both areas; consulting gives her current applications and exciting examples to bring into the classroom and in turn, staying current in the classroom helps her bring innovative research to her clients.  In her spare time, Brigit enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, and outdoor activities with her family.

After a successful career in business, Professor Richard (Rick) Owens decided to complete his lifelong goal of education and return to school. Rick’s first degree was Computer Information Systems, which ignited a passion in him to continue and earn his Master in Management Information Systems. Rick has been teaching since 2000, and has been educating Business and IT students with Ottawa University since 2008.

Rick is currently a Sr. Systems Analyst for Sprint, and he lives in an old house in a small town about 55 miles north of Ottawa's Overland Park campus. Outside of IT systems and educating students, Rick loves to garden, read sci-fi, play computer games, and do some art [mostly poetry with a healthy dash of neo-abstract painting.] Currently Rick has made the decision to do the final mad dash for his PhD, is in the process of completing his dissertation and will soon be known as Dr. Rick Owens. 

Dr. Angie Parker is originally from Colorado, but spent 20 years in Phoenix, Arizona.  Her Bachelor’s degree allowed her the opportunity to teach K-8 in Phoenix. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Technology and often works with teachers in the integration of technology.  In 2009 she was awarded a Fulbright Senior Research Scholarship to continue her research in South Africa.  The research was based on the Eastern Cape of South Africa where she lectured and did research on distance learning at the five major universities in that location. 

Linda Passamaneck, PhD appreciates the increasing convergence of business, education and technology and the impact the knowledge age has on organizations, teams and individuals.  She received a BS in Psychology and an MEd in Adult and Vocational Education from Colorado State University, and her PhD in Business Management from Capella University.  She has been working for over 20 years to develop models to support innovative lifelong learning in higher education and corporate settings throughout the United States.  She has consulted with numerous organizations, non-profits, and universities to start and successfully grow their eLearning programs, build innovative curriculum, support student retention, and coach others as they become practitioners in adult and organizational learning.

James (Jim) Patterson completed a BA in Psychology at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He has worked for major Property & Casualty Insurance Companies in Claims Management for over thirty years. Mr. Patterson completed an MBA with a concentration in Finance at University of Michigan. He has taught courses in finance, risk management, insurance and management for over twenty years. Mr. Patterson enjoys merging real world business knowledge with academic theory to enhance the student experience. 

Kristi Piccone grew up in Wray, Colorado and Ft. Collins, Colorado and completed both undergraduate and graduate degrees at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado. She spent the majority of her career teaching high school students Biology, Human Anatomy & Physiology, and Forensic Science. She also spent much of her career coaching Women's Gymnastics and Women's Diving. After retiring from a successful and rewarding teaching career, she made her way to Ottawa University, where she can now devote her time and passion for teaching to their wonderful students. Kristi loves being outside in the warm Arizona sun and golfing. 

Instructor Marcia Pitts grew up in Kansas City, MO. She completed her undergrad work in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, while teaching Pre-K and Kindergarten in an urban setting.  Upon completing the course work for a Master's degree in Curriculum, she went into a number of positions in the school setting. She has taught all grades from Pre-K to tenth grade. Her tenure in public school has been as a successful reading instructor, writing instructor, classroom teacher, instructional facillator, new teacher mentor, liaison to the MO State Legislature, and Professional Development Member. After completing the coursework in Educational Administration, she worked as Assistant Principal and Summer School Principal. Instructor Pitts has a love and passion for teaching and new teachers.  She has brought her passion and love for successful teaching to Ottawa University for 18 years.

As a dedicated business educator for over 20 years, Dr. Laura Pogue is a subject matter expert within the business and management-related course areas. She has been teaching at Ottawa University since 2011. She started her career at General Motors and transitioned into the world of academia and small business ownership in 2000. Over the last several years, Dr. Pogue has served on numerous public for-profit and private boards in addition to publishing and presenting academic articles in the areas of leadership, management, executive compensation, and international trade. Dr. Pogue enjoys reading everything from business publications to best-sellers. She is an avid Wall Street Journal and New York Times reader and loves to follow Major League Baseball. Her hobby is aviation.

Instructor Pollock grew up in Chicago, Illinois and completed his undergraduate degree at Illinois State University.  He spent the majority of his career at Illinois Tool Works, in Chicago working in product development and brand management, and Reebok International in Boston, Massachusetts working in brand marketing, national account marketing and strategic planning. While in Chicago, Instructor Pollock pursued his MBA with a concentration in marketing, strategic management and finance at the University of Chicago, while working for Illinois Tool Works.  Upon completion of his MBA degree, Instructor Pollock decided to make a change from business-to-business marketing at Illinois Tools Works to consumer marketing at Reebok, International.  After working as VP Marketing at St. Louis Music, in St. Louis, Missouri, Instructor Pollock started his own marketing consulting firm and began his career as an adjunct instructor at Maryville University in St. Louis.  He has taught with Ottawa University since 2015 and enjoys integrating his business and consulting experience for students within the classroom.

Dr. Suzanne Richins is known as an early adopter of technology and innovation. As a senior leader in healthcare, she was one of the first to look at using analytics to structure staffing schedules based on patient arrival acuity to the Emergency Department for her masters’ thesis. The methodology was adopted throughout Intermountain Healthcare and various other well-known healthcare systems. While serving on an American Hospital Association-PMG Board and the Joint Commission Professional and Technical Advisory Committee, she conducted her dissertation on patient satisfaction prior to the adoption of these standards by both of these respected organizations.  Her latest work is in using analytics to predict patient outcomes and improve quality. She also teaches DBA, MBA, DHA, MHA, and DNP students for various universities while conducting her own research projects.  Her first book on healthcare innovation and her second book on emerging technology were published in 2015.
 

Professor Keith Rieger earned his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of New Mexico, his master’s degree in Marketing from the University of Alabama, and completed his PhD Marketing coursework at Texas Tech University. Intertwined with his education he has gained 15+ years experience as an executive & consultant for numerous companies & organizations around the world.

He has been a business professor since 2008, instructing 100+ undergraduate & graduate – online & on-campus – business courses. In addition, he is a full-time Marketing Consultant & Executive Coach helping others to optimize their lives, careers and businesses. Finally, he is the author of several books, including the following:

• You Inc. - A Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing Yourself and Developing Your Dream Career
• Optimized Marketing - A Step-by-Step Guide for Developing an Efficient, Effective, and Economical Marketing Plan for your Company
• Optimized Runner - Learn the 10 Keys to Becoming an Optimized Runner from an XTERRA Trail Running World Champion

Most importantly, he is passionate about learning and sharing knowledge to help others be successful and achieve their goals.

Instructor Romero grew up in Phoenix, AZ; however, was born in Springfield, MO. She carries a Dual BA in both Psychology and Management. During this period and while in pursuit of her MSP (Master of Science of Psychology) she spent over 20 years working in the Behavioral Health field. Amber spent the majority of her time working with highly acute populations within the Maricopa County Community as well as partnered with several government agencies (FBI, CIA, Governor's office, etc) working with their Priority Populations. At this time Amber teaches both online and ground Psychology and Liberal Arts Courses for Ottawa University and absolutely loves it! On her off time she is comfortably consumed by her beautiful family consisting of three children (a set of young twins and a teenager), a spectacular husband and there might be a few animals running around too.

Instructor Arthur Romero is a native to Arizona and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from Barry Goldwater High School in North Phoenix. After four years of honorably serving both in country and overseas, he attended Ottawa University and received his BA in Psychology. He primarily worked in materials management at St. Joseph’s Hospital during this time and went back to Ottawa University for his MBA. He has taught both graduate and undergraduate coursework since 2010 at Ottawa, has worked in launching a law firm, worked as the HR and Operations Director for a large local church, and currently works in IT-Environment Management at CSAA Insurance Group (aka AAA) while also obtaining his Real Estate License in Arizona in 2017.

He is a proud husband and father of three children – Payten (oldest Daughter), and twins – Jack and Rane.

Instructor Ryan grew up in Columbus, Ohio and completed her undergraduate degrees in Management and Business Administration, as well as her MBA, at Franklin University.  She has spent the majority of her working career in the public and private sectors working in the field of Human Resources.  Ms. Ryan’s goal in obtaining her MBA was to eventually move into the field of Academia.  She has been an instructor of Business and Human Resources classes for the past seven years.  Ms. Ryan enjoys integrating her education and experience into the classroom providing real life examples and solutions to students within the classroom. 

Adjunct instructor Margi Schultz, PhD, RN, earned her PhD from Capella University with a specialty in online education and is excited to work with students in the nursing program at Ottawa University. Dr. Schultz is the Administrator for MaricopaNursing a consortium of eight community colleges in Phoenix, AZ. Ottawa University partners with MaricopaNursing for the Concurrent Enrollment Program (CEP), providing the Bachelor's degree components along with the prelicensure RN program for MaricopaNursing students. Dr. Schultz worked in  ICU and neurotrauma nursing for several years before moving into higher education. Her passions (other than her family and the White Mountains of Arizona!) include nursing research, promoting  culturally sensitive care, and nursing leadership topics.

Professor Schwartz has been a member of the adjunct faculty at Ottawa University since 2012. He teaches within the Educational Leadership Program for the School of Education. 

Originally from the Kansas City, Missouri area, Jeff Shirley started studying music at seven years of age and found guitar at the age of twelve. His specialties are composing jazz and playing jazz guitar. A graduate of University of North Texas with a jazz performance degree, he has since been growing in the Kansas City thriving jazz scene. From traditional to modern, he is always trying to create and innovate, while honoring the tradition. Currently he is playing weekly at places including the historic Mutual Musician's Foundation, YJ's Snack Bar every Sunday from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., the Blue Room, and many more. His latest album is Point Of The Story, and features Roger Wilder, Bob Bowman, Matt Leifer and Ryan Theilman.

Instructor Jaime Shockley was raised in Indiana and completed her BS degree in Political Science at Indiana University Southeast.  In addition, she has completed a MBA and MA in Political Science.  She is working on completing her PhD in Nonprofit Management and currently in the dissertation phase of the degree.  She has been employed with United Parcel Service since 1991 primarily working in multiple management roles within International Operations, Finance and Accounting, and Industrial Engineering functions.  She has also worked in real estate as well as maintains a direct sales business.  She has volunteered for several local nonprofit organizations.  She was recently voted to serve a three year term on the Board of Directors for the Housing Partnership of Louisville.  She has held previous board positions with Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana, Women of the Moose-Sellersburg, and Business and Professional Women-New Albany.  Finally, she has been teaching as an adjunct instructor since 2005 for Ottawa University Indiana ground campus as well as Online.  She has previously taught for the University of Phoenix as well.  She spends any available free time camping with her husband and stepson in their new RV, reading, or crafting. 

Elizabeth Skwiot earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature with a Designated Emphasis in Feminist Theory and Research from the University of California-Davis. She teaches a variety of literature courses at Ottawa University and wrote the online course on Literary Criticism. Having performed in the circus between getting her M.A. and Ph.D., Dr. Skwiot's research interests include the intersections between art and performance in all areas of society.

Adjunct instructor Garth Smith grew up in Kansas City, MO and lived in Saudi Arabia for 11 years working for an airline with a contract to train employees of Saudi Arabian Airlines to operate the airline self-sufficiently.  He was a human resources manager and then the overall project manager for the airline.  Since that time he has made a career in the behavioral health field as Director of Network Operations for New Directions Behavioral Health, an organization owed by several Blue Cross insurance plans.  His expertise in negotiating contracts with health care providers, developing educational workshops, profiling professionals, and analyzing specialty needs for individuals in need of health services has given him a rich background for instructing in the areas of management, social services and health care on both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Dr. Margaret Smith earned her BA in Psychology and certificate in Gerontology from Clark University, her MA in Counseling Psychology from Boston College,  and her EdD in Education (focusing on alcohol and other drugs in higher education) from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  Her research focuses on high risk drinking among college students with a focus on college women.  She has worked as a case manager for elders, an alcohol and other drug counselor in a hospital based clinic (while also serving as an addiction consultant on the psychiatric center), Coordinator of GLBT programming at Dartmouth College, an alcohol and other drug educator at Dartmouth College, and now a tenured, full professor at Keene State College in Health Science/Addictions. She earned her MLADC in alcohol and drug counseling in New Hampshire and is a presenter at national and regional conferences.  She is the President of INCASE (International Coalition of Addiction Studies) and an active member of NAADAC (the Association for Addiction Professionals).  Her areas of expertise include addiction, GLBT counseling and culture, co-occurring disorders, gerontology, and women.  Dr. Smith loves camping, fireflies on a hot summer's night, reading, learning, and working with students!

Instructor Smith grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and now lives in Olathe, KS with her husband and five boys.  She currently teaches first grade with the Olathe Public Schools and serves as Adjunct Faculty for Ottawa University in the Education department.  She obtained her National Board Certification in 2014 and serves on many committees within her school and school district.  Writing and receiving grants for furthering STEM education and Project Based Learning is one of her passions.  She is the recipient of many awards including the Olathe Public Schools Foundation educator excellence award, the Kansas society of Professional Engineers Kansas Teacher of the Year and a Kansas finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science.

Instructor Smith grew up near Denver, Colorado and in Winfield, Kansas.  He completed his undergraduate degree in History at Ottawa University.  Upon graduation, he worked as an Ottawa University Admissions Counselor and Assistant Football Coach before teaching and coaching at Paola (KS) High School for seven years.  In 2006, Smith returned to work full time at his alma mater as an Assistant Football Coach and Head Golf Coach.  Smith completed his MA in History at Emporia State in 2009.  He has taught American Government and American Experience II at Ottawa University since the fall of 2014.  He loves to travel with his family, often exploring hiking trails in the mountains of Colorado.

Ruth Soles was born and grew up on the East coast, New Jersey-Maine. Early on in her career she had the opportunity to teach for the Department of Defense Schools in Germany. Ruth moved to Arizona in 1980 and now calls the valley home. She taught in the public school system at a primary school for 28 years. She was fortunate to be able to take a core group of students from Pre K all the way through to third grade after teaching pre-first for nine years. She then went to Special Ed. Her last eight years, she has spent teaching Kindergarten. She still substitutes frequently and enjoys spending time in different classrooms.

Ruth has a, BA in Early Childhood Education from University of Massachusetts and MAED from Northern Arizona University. She is certified in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education and has endorsements for Reading Specialist, and ESL. She is also a certified Educational Therapist. When she is not working, she enjoys reading, crafting, and sewing. She sews many different things but her favorite things to sew are clothes for American Girl size dolls. Ruth has two grown children, both married and living in the valley. She has three beautiful granddaughters ages 8, 12, and 15.

Instructor Kendra Stewart-Nelson is an adjunct faculty member that teaches in the Master of Arts in Professional Counseling program. Dr. Stewart-Nelson earned her doctorate degree in Behavioral Health at Arizona State University. She has worked in the behavioral health field for over 20 years. She brings private practice and clinical setting expertise into her classrooms. She has taught with Ottawa University since 2016. With each teaching moment, Dr. Stewart-Nelson looks forward to integrating innovation and creativity with her students. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, writing and being outdoors.

Instructor Stone was raised in Sheffield, England and completed his BA degree in Business at Leeds Metropolitan University.  He moved to Philadelphia and then Phoenix, completing an MBA and beginning studies to achieve his doctorate in Organizational Leadership in 2016.  Mark is both an academic and serial entrepreneur with a passion for entrepreneurship. His business ventures have included the formation of non-profit and for-profit sports instruction, camp, and consulting enterprises. He is a veteran in the classroom with outstanding student reviews, uses his business experience to make classes real and understandable, and is excited to devote his energy, passion and leadership to Ottawa University.

Instructor Harvey E. Tidwell was raised in California and completed his BA degree in Education at Chapman University.  He attended graduate school at California Lutheran University, completing his Master’s in Educational Administration in 1986 and finished his Doctorate in Education Leadership in 2007.  Professor Tidwell is both an academic and life-long educator that has taught at every level of education.  He is currently teaching at the high school level and still continues to teach at university level, which spans over the last decade.  He is a veteran in the classroom with outstanding student reviews and has achieved Faculty-of-the-Year honors at another prestigious university.  In the classroom, Dr. Tidwell uses his in-depth experience to make education real and understandable for his students and is excited to devote his energy, passion and leadership to Ottawa University, which is a truly special place to him. Dr. Tidwell is a person who is driven to excel and radiates a passion for teaching and learning, a person who is enthusiastic to see his students achieve in their fields of expertise.

Soprano Alyssa Toepfer has been praised as a performer with "unbridled dexterity" (Kansas City Star) and a "marvelous, soaring tone" (KC Metropolis).

Currently, Toepfer teaches voice at Ottawa University and Benedictine College, is the choral assistant at Olathe North High School, sings as an outreach artist with The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and is a member of the Grammy award-winning Kansas City Chorale.

Stage credits include Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Princess/#1 (Transformations), Wanda (The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein), Aline (The Sorcerer), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Gretel (Hӓnsel und Gretel), Adina (l’Elisir d’amore), and Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte).

In 2014, Toepfer earned international acclaim in her first pants role as Jemmy in Wichita Grand Opera’s production of "Guillaume Tell." Opera News called her “a convincing Jemmy both musically and dramatically” while a reviewer from the German Rossini Society praised her as “a superb Jemmy… she acted as well as she sang.”

Toepfer was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree at Augustana University and a Master of Music in Voice degree at The University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.

For more information, please visit alyssatoepfer.com.

Kimarie Tryon was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona and has always enjoyed learning from a young age. She has worked in the field of Education for over 10 years. She has enjoyed fulfilling many roles within Education working with Elementary, Middle School, and High school students. She obtained a Bachelors of Arts in Elementary Education from Arizona State University in 2008 as well as completed certification for teaching high school mathematics. She completed her graduate studies with Ottawa University earning a Master of Arts in school counseling in 2011. Currently she is a full time high school academic counselor with an online school, Insight Academy of Arizona. She also enjoys helping prepare future school counselors by teaching as a part-time adjunct instructor for Ottawa University. She has been married for 10 years and has two adorable boys and a girl on the way in August 2017. She enjoys learning, helping students, and spending time with her family. 

Jan Tucker, PhD is an adjunct instructor in business for Ottawa University’s online program.  Dr. Tucker earned her doctorate in Business Administration at Northcentral University.  She has been an educator for 25 years and works as a consultant in higher education and human resource management.   In her free time, Dr. Tucker enjoys boating, fishing and scuba diving with her family. 

Instructor Carla Vause, LSCSW, LCSW was raised in the Kansas City area and completed her undergraduate degree at Mid-America Nazarene College.  After completing her MSW at Washington University, she spent two years in supervision working on the eating disorder unit at Baptist Hospital in Kansas City to earn her clinical degree.  Since the year 2000, she has enjoyed her private practice in Overland Park, KS with a specialty in Families in Crisis.  In 1995 she taught her first class at Ottawa University.  She is excited to be a part of the Human and Social Services team.

Janet Velasco has been with OU for approximately 20+ years working as an Adjunct faculty member teaching classes and supervising student teachers in the field. She earned her B.A. and M.A. at ASU, doctorate at NAU in Ed. Administration with emphasis in Curriculum and Supervision.  Janet worked for the Tempe Union High School District teaching science and then as an Assistant Principal.  She has been trained in Staff Development and Conflict Management.  She has worked with students, teachers, and parents in many capacities.

Janet prefers to spend her time with family and friends and is an avid reader. She also enjoys movies and attending concerts and plays.  Her favorite pastime is grooming horses and playing with her dogs. Mother Teresa is Professor Velasco’s role model as she tries to instill her philosophy into all of her daily routines.

Monica Villalobos is an Adjunct Professor at Ottawa’s Surprise, AZ campus.  Professor Villalobos graduates in May 2019 with a doctorate in Communications from USC.  She has also served as Vice-President of the AZ Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for over 5 years. Professor V also owns her own business, ResearchByDesign, in which she conducts qualitative and quantitative research for consumer product goods companies. She enjoys spending time with her family and watching her young boys play soccer!

Mary Vorsten grew up in the Ozarks of southern Missouri.  Her undergraduate degree is in biology.  Between undergraduate and graduate school she lived and worked in the Spanish speaking community of Chicago.  Her master’s degree is in counseling psychology and the focus of her degree in theology was family ministry.  Mary has worked in the mental health and addictions treatment field for over thirty years.  She has taught for Ottawa University since 1993 in the areas of human resources, human services, psychology and addiction studies.  She integrates a spiritual focus in her teaching process to assist the student in defining the importance of their spiritual understandings as they prepare for their career.  Mary has a private counseling practice in the Kansas City community.

Karly Way Schauwecker, Ph.D. describes herself as a lifelong learner, and this love was instilled early on, growing up in the small ski town of Killington, Vermont. In addition to skiing, her family nurtured a wide range of creative interests, from arts and crafts, to music and drama while volunteering in the local summer playhouse. Her academic interests are wide-ranging as well, with degrees in three fields: Communication, Psychology & Counseling, and Sociology. Karly is also a certified yoga instructor and trainer, and continues to take classes of all types (you may even find her in a few at Ottawa). An online adjunct instructor since 2015, she teaches undergrad and graduate classes in Sociology, Psychology and Counseling.

Instructor Lisa Weiss earned her Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology in 2007 from the University of North Dakota and further completed all PhD coursework in the program. She has four years of counseling experience, five years of research experience and six years of teaching experience.

She has counseled a wide range of individuals from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds, as well as military, grade school-aged and community populations. Lisa has held several advocacy positions working with traditionally underserved populations and completed several undergraduate programs of this type in her educational endeavors.

Currently, Lisa teaches psychology and human services courses as well as research methods, statistics and physiology for the social sciences at Ottawa University and Upper Iowa University, where she has also been a subject matter expert (SME) for senior projects for Psychology and Human Services majors.  In addition to teaching, Lisa is a graduate writing tutor for online students at Herzing University.

Dr. Joyce Werner has been an Adjunct Instructor at Ottawa University Phoenix for the past twenty-two years in the area of Education and Special Education.  Dr. Werner presently holds eight Arizona Teaching Certificates in the areas of: Music, Elementary Education, Secondary Education in Music, Special Education, English as a Second Language, Elementary and Secondary Supervisor, Elementary and Secondary Principal and Superintendent.  Most of her teaching and supervision experiences, apart from Ottawa University, has been in Public Education in the areas of Elementary, Secondary and Special Education.  Her philosophy is that one is a lifelong learner and encourages her students to achieve their dreams and goals.

Dr. Mary F. Whitman grew up in Minnesota and now resides in Florida.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a criminology concentration, and a MSW (Master in Social Work) from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Whitman also holds a DBA (Doctorate of Business Administration) from the University of Sarasota.  She has worked in all three sectors (for profit, not for profit and government) and has been a fulltime professor and higher education administrator for the past eighteen years.  Her diverse background includes work in the social work/human services field as well as business in human resources.  Whitman’s research interests include expatriate and repatriate adjustment, motivation, and job satisfaction. She has also worked on research exploring personality factors with both organizational and self-identified expatriates. Her research participants include expatriates and repatriates from around the world.

Ann Williams has more than 30 years of experience in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. Her service as socio-economist volunteer for the United States Peace Corps in Nepal is characteristic of her willingness to engage with the unknown. After working for more than 15 years as a marketing executive, she turned her focus to education. A social anthropologist, she now works as program evaluation consultant with nonprofits and universities which train entrepreneurial sustainable farmers. She has taught business and liberal arts subjects at Ottawa University since 2001. In addition, she teaches marketing in the Lubar School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Dr. Doula Zaharopoulos has 28 years of experience as a business owner and 18 years as a college professor. She founded and ran three successful small businesses including an online retail business. She is full time faculty for the Maricopa Community College district where she teaches business courses including accounting, marketing and business law. She developed several online courses for Ottawa University from 2001-2010, and more recently, 16 online courses that have passed Quality Matters Review standards for Maricopa Community Colleges.  She is a dedicated teacher, business consultant and researcher. Dr. Zaharopoulos holds a Doctorate of Business Administration from Grand Canyon University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin. She teaches a variety of business law courses and is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Arizona.

She resides in Scottsdale and enjoys spending time playing tennis, swimming, learning new languages, attending the symphony, and serving as Publicity Chairperson for the Greater Phoenix Greek Festival.