NEWBERRY - Key Persons
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- Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Chief Diversity Officer
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- Chairman of Humanities Associate Professor of English
Born and raised near Atlanta, Georgia, Amanda Hodges has been at Newberry College since 2011. After teaching high school English for a number of years, Hodges earned her Ph.D. in English Education at the University of Georgia, where her dissertation examined discourses of fanfiction and identity by combining pop culture studies and writing pedagogies.
She is a recipient of the 2018 Excellence in Teaching Award, an honor given annual by South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities to one professor selected from each of the 20 SCICU member institutions. Hodges also is the recipient of the 2018 Newberry College Student Government Association Teacher of the Year Award, an honor highly coveted by the Newberry faculty because the recipient is selected by the Newberry student body.
Hoddges has been published in The English Journal and The Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures and regularly contributes to the National Council of Teachers of English Teaching and Learning Forum; Hodges has presented at regional, national and international conferences. Some of her recent course topics have included space fantasy, magic and mayhem, love and the literary narrator, and steampunk fiction.
Hodges also enjoys travel, photography, and all things fantasy and sci-fi. She lives in Newberry and enjoys being close to the campus and part of a close-knit community.
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- Director of Dyslexia Program
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- Associate Dean, Enrollment Management International Student PDSO
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- Vice President for Academic Affairs
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- Chief Development Officer Institutional Advancement
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- Senior Admission Counselor / Student Ambassadors
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- Associate Dean for Community Building & Campus Life
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- Associate Director for Multicultural & Civic Engagement
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- Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Faculty Council Chair
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- Chairman of Teacher Education Assistant Professor of Teacher Education
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- Special Advisor to the President
Dr. Lenna C. Young is a retired higher education leader and educator. She most recently served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Greenville Technical College, retiring from that position in December 2017. As a seasoned leader in educational settings, Dr. Young has long championed quality education through teaching excellence. She arrived at Greenville Technical College in August 2009 where she first served as Dean of Business and Public Service, focusing on supporting faculty to offer innovative teaching practices and service to students and leading academics to offer world-class status career and technical education.
Prior to her career in higher education, Dr. Young followed her military spouse for nearly 25 years across the U.S. and Europe. During that time, she began her federal civilian service career leading military children and youth programming for more than 10 years as a program director or curriculum and training specialist. Her federal civilian service also included four years as a budget analyst for U. S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) research and development and procurement accounts. While serving at SOCOM, Dr. Young was nominated as one of a limited number of civilians to complete the Air Force's Squadron Officer Leadership School. During her service in federal civilian service, Dr. Young was selected as a recipient of the Army Special Act Award and the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Medal.
Upon returning to South Carolina, Dr. Young began teaching in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Program at Tri-County Technical College in Pendleton, SC, as an adjunct faculty member. At the same time, she began her doctoral studies at Clemson University where she also taught as a graduate teaching assistant and worked as a graduate research assistant. Dr. Young later accepted the position as ECD Program Coordinator at Tri-County Technical College and began the program's self-study for the National Association for the Education of Young Children Associate Degree Accreditation resulting in the program being one of the first 30 in the nation to receive accreditation. Dr. Young was later appointed as the Department Head for Public Services.
Dr. Young's community involvement prior to her return to South Carolina included service on the Board of Directors for the Gulf Coast Women's Center for Non-Violence and the Board of Directors of the Biloxi (Mississippi) Chamber of Commerce where she assisted in initiating military welcome dinners and orientations to integrate military members into the community. While living in Greenville, Dr. Young's service included: Academic Members Council, University Center of Greenville; Furman University Undergraduate Evening Studies Advisory Council; Greenville Hospital System MedEx Academy Advisory Board; and Greenville Chamber of Commerce Education Committee.
A native South Carolinian, Dr. Young earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology / Guidance and Counseling from Newberry College, Newberry, South Carolina, and a Master of Education from the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida. She completed her doctoral studies at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, with research focused on the selection and effects of professional development on teaching quality. Dr. Young and her husband, Colonel (Retired) Lance S. Young, reside in Gilbert, SC.
Dr. Sarah Bowie earned her Ph.D. in Language and Literacy from the University of South Carolina with a research emphasis on biliteracy and the impact of bilingualism in emergent literacy. With 20 years of experience in public education, Sarah has served in schools as an early childhood educator, Reading Recovery teacher, instructional coach, and literacy specialist. Sarah has extensive experience with personalized learning, literacy intervention, and curriculum and standards alignment.
Job Titles:
- in 2004 As an Assistant Professor
- Ombudsman
Dr. Timothy Elston joined Newberry College in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of History and was advanced in rank to Associate Professor in 2009. He was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College in July 2011, a role he held until July 2018. Under his leadership, the College transformed its May Term and study abroad experiences and implemented a new core curriculum designed to better prepare students with hard skills from their major and soft skills to effectively naviagate the workplace. He also led the College's effort to assess its full offering of academic degrees and develop a number of new, career-focused degree programs to address current and prospective student needs and interests while supporting institutional growth.
As a professor, Elston specializes in late medieval and early modern English history, specifically examining the intersection of religious education and societal expectations of gender. He is the author of several essays that focus on the Tudor-Stuart era of English history. He has served the College in various capacities including chair of Faculty Council, chair of the Department of History and Social Sciences, and most recently Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. In the classroom, Elston teaches Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern history, and various courses that focus upon issues of gender and/or sexuality.
Elston enjoys reading, golfing, watching most college sports, traveling when he can and frequently embarrassing his daughters, especially by wearing obnoxiously loud Hawaiian style shirts.
Job Titles:
- ELCA South Carolina Synod Representative
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- Associate Director of Admission, System Operations & Data Analytics
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Member at - Large
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- Administrative Assistant for Enrollment Management
Dr. Cole received his B.A. in Spanish from the University of Toledo, his M.A. in Spanish from Miami University of Ohio, and his Ph.D. with a specialization in Hispanic poetry from the University of Kentucky. His Ph.D. work focused on female poets in Spain during the 1920s and 1930s. His dissertation was published by Mellen Press in 2000 and entitled Spanish Women Poets of the Generation of 1927.
Dr. Cole is also a poet who writes in English and Spanish and has published three collections of poetry: Pausal Sighs (Sterling House Press, 2000), The Moodier Could of Being (Ravenna Press, 2005) and most recently, Frases to or (Ravenna Press, 2011). Presently, Dr. Cole teaches all levels of Spanish.
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- Professor of Criminal Justice and Psychology
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- Interim Vice President for Business Affairs & CFO
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- Chairman of Music Assistant Professor of Music
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- Director of Online and Graduate Operations
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Member at - Large
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- Assistant Director of Admission
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- Executive Assistant for Academic Affairs, OIRE Research Assistant
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- Coordinator of Admissions CRM Operations
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- Professor of Theatre / Director of Technical Theatre
Professor Fuller has been with Newberry College since 2005. For the College, he oversees production scenic and lighting design. Credits include "The Shakespeare Festival"; The Glass Menagerie; Our Town; Murder Mystery Weekend of Doom: A Love Story; Into the Woods; Almost, Maine; Doubt: A Parable; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Nature, Truth and No Humbug for the 2006 Bachman Symposium; and Noises Off. Professor Fuller has been an active member of the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) since 2002, and served as the Chair of the Small Theatre Program Committee in 2014 and 2015. In graduate school, Professor Fuller's designs received multiple awards at both the regional and national levels. Professor Fuller has also received honors for his work such as the SCICU Excellence in Teaching Award Recipient for Newberry College (2014), the National Society of Leadership and Success Excellence in Teaching Award (2014), and the W.C. "Billy" Carter Professorship for Selfless Giving in 2017. He resides in Newberry with his wife, Abigail and their daughter, Morgan.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Recruitment
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- Associate Professor of Mathematics
Professor Al-Hasan joined Newberry College in Fall 2012. Prior to arriving at Newberry, he was an associate professor at Milwaukee School of Engineering, WI, during 2007-2012, associate professor at An-Najah National University, Palestine, during 2006-2007, assistant then associate professor at Mount Mary College, WI, during 2001-2006, and assistant professor at Clayton State University, GA, during 1999-2001. Professor Al-Hasan's research is in the area of Harmonic Analysis, specifically Singular and Oscillatory integrals, History of Mathematics during the Islamic Golden Age, and Mathematics Education.
Professor Al-Hasan is currently the Mathematics Program Coordinator, a Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Honor Society Advisor, the Newberry College Fishing Team Coach/Advisor, and the MAA Liaison. He is currently a member of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) (member since 1996) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) (member since 2000).
Job Titles:
- Adjunct Professor of Speech & Theatre
- Professor
Professor Hance received his Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Furman University and his Master of Fine Arts in Drama with an emphasis in Acting/Directing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has either acted, directed or produced over 60 theatre productions over a 25 year career. He also has coached students for Speech and Acting competitions and has produced many winners.
Professor Hance created a theatre program and Fine Arts Series and taught acting, theatre and public speaking at Greenville Technical College for 17 years. He has also taught with the Palmetto Center for the Arts at Richland NE High School, Greenville Middle Academy, Greer High School, USC-Upstate and USC-Union.
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- Director of Human Resources Title IX Coordinator
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- ELCA South Carolina Synod Representative
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- Assistant Volleyball Coach
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- Assistant Professor of Military Science
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- Director of Wessels Library
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- Dean of Enrollment Management
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- Director of Athletic Club
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- Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness
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- Administrative Assistant to Music
Dr. Fernandez comes to Newberry from Lander University, where she served as the chair of the Department of Teacher Education and campus director for the South Carolina Center for Educators Recruitment, Retention and Advancement's Teaching Fellows program. She brings several decades of education experience to the role, including as an elementary and middle school teacher, literacy coach, professional development coordinator, university professor, accreditation reviewer and senior institutional mentor-leader. Expansion and creation of relevant online and graduate programs, recruitment and retention, and strong partnerships with local schools are some of the priorities on Fernandez's agenda. With strong interests in literacy and educational administration, Fernandez also serves as the executive director of the South Carolina Association of Teacher Educators. She is a former president of the Palmetto State Literacy Association, and she presently serves in a variety of leadership roles in the national Association of Teacher Educators. Fernandez earned her doctorate in educational leadership from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, her master's and bachelor's degrees in education from Clemson University, and her associate degree from Anderson University.
Job Titles:
- Admission Chief Operations Manager
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- Help Desk Technician - N3
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- Associate Director of Athletics