TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference recently announced that The University of Alabama, along with the 13 other universities of the SEC, have selected faculty and administrators to participate in the 2016-17 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program.
The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program, or SEC ALDP, is a professional growth initiative that seeks to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond.
It has two components: a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own participants and two, three-day, SEC-wide workshops held on specified campuses for all program participants.
The four fellows selected by UA are Tim Haskew, Aaron Kuntz, Alice March and Donna Meester. They are joining the other fellows to participate in SEC ALDP workshops Oct. 17-19 at UA and Feb. 22-24, 2017, at Mississippi State University.
Tim A. Haskew – Dr. Tim A. Haskew is head of the department of electrical and computer engineering and holds the rank of professor. Haskew also serves as director of the Electromechanical Systems Laboratory. His research interests span the electrical and mechanical disciplines, and he is specifically focused in power electronics, motion control, electric machinery, energy conversion, power systems and system control. Haskew’s work has been sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy and a number of industrial entities. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, and received the T. Burke Hayes IEEE Power Engineering Society Faculty Recognition Award in 1996. Within the IEEE, he is a member of multiple societies and working groups. Haskew was active on the Applied Power Electronics Conference, or APEC, Committee from 2004 through 2010, and he served as the APEC Seminar Chair from 2005 through 2010. He has some 65 refereed journal articles and two book chapters published, and he holds two patents. He has graduated six Ph.D. and 11 M.S. students. In 2013, he received the T. Morris Hackney Endowed Faculty Leadership Award from the UA College of Engineering.
Aaron M. Kuntz – Dr. Aaron M. Kuntz is head of the department of educational studies and associate professor of educational studies. Kuntz develops inquiry projects in local, national and international arenas alongside professional colleagues, teachers and community activists. His research interests include critical qualitative inquiry, academic activism and citizenship, critical geography and philosophy of education. Recently, Kuntz received the McCrory Faculty Excellence Award for Distinguished Teaching at UA. His research agenda focuses on theorizing and developing “materialist methodologies” and remains grounded in empirical questions concerning the production of inquiry in the K-16 arena, faculty work in postsecondary institutions and the impact of the built environment on learning. His research has led to numerous publications in a diverse array of journals. His most recent book, titled “Methodological Responsibility: Inquiry, Truth-telling, & Social Justice,” is available through Routledge Press. Kuntz serves on the editorial board for the Review of Higher Education and the Bloomsbury Research Methods for Education book series.
Alice L. March – Dr. Alice L. March is the assistant dean for graduate programs at the Capstone College of Nursing. March joined the faculty at Alabama in 2007 and is now an associate professor. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s in community health nursing with a functional role of administrator, and a doctorate in rural nursing, all from the State University of New York at Binghamton. March’s extensive clinical experience has provided her with a broad base to teach nursing at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is a member of the international nursing honor society, Sigma Theta Tau, and is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Zeta Iota Chapter Thesis/Dissertation Award, Decker School of Nursing Dissertation Year Scholarship, Graduate Tuition and Decker School of Nursing Scholarships, among others. March has an active program of research related to educational strategies and technology to support teaching and learning in nursing students. She was recently awarded one of four National League for Nursing grants to complete a multisite study examining the effect of hopeful thinking on high-stakes exams scores.
Donna Meester – Donna Meester is UA Faculty Senate president and director of undergraduate and graduate costume design and production programs. Meester earned her bachelor’s degree in apparel technology from Purdue University and master’s in stage design from Southern Methodist University, where she studied with the acclaimed Broadway designers and producers Bill and Jean Eckart. She served as costume commissioner for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology from 2010 to 2015 and was chair of design and technology for Region IV of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival from 2006 to 2009. Meester was awarded the Kennedy Center Golden Medallion, the highest award given to educators, for her work with the organization. Meester has designed numerous shows at UA, including musicals, operas, dances and theatrical productions, such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which traveled to Havana, Cuba. Her students are employed across the country in a wide variety of venues and positions, from stitchers in regional theatres to dressers on Broadway.
The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program is part of SECU, the academic initiative of the Southeastern Conference. The SEC supports and promotes the endeavors and achievements of the students and faculty at its 14 member universities.