Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Great Debaters: A Historical Female Star Passes Away!


Henrietta Bell Wells, a Pioneering Debater, Dies at 96

Mrs. Wells, the only female debater on the Wiley College debate team, died recently. As a former high school debater, I was enamored with the fact that a major motion picture was released about a debate team at a historically black college. I actually attended Wiley College for a semester and I learned a lot from my short experience at an HBCU.

It is very ironic that Mrs. Wells passed away after the movie was released. I am very glad that such a phenomenal woman had the chance to see the movie about her life at Wiley College.

Read the article - Henrietta Bell Wells, a Pioneering Debater, Dies at 96

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

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Top 10 Ways to Deal with a Rejection Letter from a Publication


Today, I start the revisions of one of my submitted manuscripts. I received my first rejection letter before Christmas and I have not touched the document since that time. As I stated before, the first rejection letter is the worst and then the scholarly journal rejection process gets better.

I think that the best way of dealing with a rejection letter is to:
1. File the rejection letter and reviewers' comments away for awhile
2. Reflect on the process (perhaps write your reflection in a blog) :)
3. Search for another journal
4. Dig up the rejection letter and comments
5. Print and read the comments
6. Make revisions
7. Reflect on the revisions (perhaps write your reflection in a blog) :)
8. Read the document a few more times.
9. Submit the document to friends, family, and former dissertation advisers (perhaps a writers club)
10. Submit document to the selected scholarly journal.

I am actually in the fifth stage and I hope to progress through the sixth and seventh stages over Spring Break. The deadline for the new journal is April 15th. Wish me luck.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Research Updates - The Unexpected Interlibrary Loan Prayer



A few weeks ago, I ordered a book through the Interlibrary Loan system entitled, "Getting Tenure" by Marcia Lynn Whicker, Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld, and Ruth Ann Strickland.

Yes, the book seems interesting. However, I experienced a lot of coincidences while reading the book.

1. The first coincidence was that the book was from my undergraduate institution. I have ordered many books through the interlibrary loan system, but this is the first one from one of my former institutions.

2. The second coincidence occurred when I turned to page 65. The subtitle on this page was, "Being Denied Tenure". Sometimes I can be a pessimist, but someone inserted a small sheet a paper that read:

The Power of Prayer
The day was long, the
burden I had borne
Seemed heavier that I
could longer bear;
And then it lifted -
but I did not know
Someone had knelt in prayer;
Had taken me to God that very hour
And asked the easing of the load,
And He, in infinite compassion,
had stopped down
And taken it from me.
Someone had prayed - how
often hearts
Find sudden peace and rest,
Somewhere a prayer, - and Mercy
Yields lovingly to Faith's request.

I guess that I needed it today, because for the past few days I have graded papers! A unexpected prayer sometimes makes the tenure track process a little easier.
Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

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Sunday, March 9, 2008

Millennial Conference Highlights!


On Friday, I attended a conference that was focused on teaching millennial students. As a millennial and as a researcher on millennial issues, I was very pleased with the content that was presented in the workshops and the keynote speech.




During the conference, the following topics were addressed:



  • Virtual Textbooks

  • Social Networking Websites

  • Instant Messenger & Virtual Office Hours (My Workshop)

  • Usage of Wikipedia in Student Research

  • Usage of YouTube in the Classroom

  • Blackboard

  • Usage of U.S. Census Website in the Classroom

  • Why College Students Do Not Read Textbooks

  • Podcasting Lectures

  • Text Messenging in the Classroom

  • Academic Integrity of Millennial Students

  • The Millennial Mindset List (Beloit)

  • Twitter and Skype in the Classroom


Overall, the conference was very interesting and I hope that the university continues to offer such informative and intriguing information to the faculty and staff.



As a millennial professor, I was inspired to continue my research and to spread knowledge to other professors about my interesting generation.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Blogging is Good for Your Health

This week, Claudine Ryan of ABC Science/Discovery Health offers an article titled, "Blogging's is Good for Your Health". This article is exactly what I needed today.

This week has been a VERY busy week at XYZ university in the south. After midterms, I had to compile the grades for almost all of my classes and I have revealing the grades to each class all week. I have a presentation on Friday that I am very excited about and I hope that the audience will be as excited as well.

Wish me luck on my Friday presentation on my favorite type of college students.

Read the article, which I hope will make your day a bit brighter.




Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Texas Southern University - Increased Admissions Standards...Potentially...


The link to the article -
http://diversepodium.com/?p=804

The new president at Texas Southern University (TSU) is thinking about ending their open-admissions policy for undergraduate students. As an African American, this is very interesting. Texas Southern University is one of the two public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Texas.


Another interesting aspect of TSU is that the university is currently not under a "higher education" system. In Texas, we have four systems for public universities:

a) Texas State University System

b) Texas A&M University System

c) Texas Tech University System

d) The University of Texas System

In my opinion, ending the open-admissions policy is a step in the right direction for Texas Southern University. This step may make a difference in the perceived competitiveness of the university. A few years ago, there was a large push for public universities in Texas to cease their open-admissions policies and to increase admissions standards.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Now Is the Time to Prepare for Millennial Faculty

"Now Is the Time to Prepare for Millennial Faculty" is the title of a wonderful article that is a little too late. Newsflash!!! We are already here and we are invading your campuses as adjuncts, instructors, and assistant professors. Currently, we are navigating the waters of academia and are striving to make our mark as faculty.

This article focuses on cultural differences, collaboration opportunities, technology, and how academic departments can attract millennial candidates.
Empower your millennial faculty.
Give your new/potential millennial faculty the chance to make a difference in academia. Currently, I am interested in engaging millennial students in the classroom environment. Therefore, I incorporate blackboard.com in every face-to-face class that I teach.
Utilize available technology.
Some professors in my department merely post their syllabus and information pertaining to class assignments. However, I organize my students into virtual focus groups (VFGs) and each group has to complete discussion questions that are focused on the current chapter. I post most of the students' grades online (except for tests administered in class) and the millennial students like the fact that they can check their grades through the "my grades" feature on blackboard.com.
This is one of the only articles that I have found that is focused on this topic of millennial faculty and I am desperately seeking other articles.