How many years have you been working at UNI?
Fifteen

Briefly describe your educational background.
BA - Teaching from UNI. MS - Northwest Missouri State University in educational leadership. ASC - Superintendency certification from UNI. EdD - Educational Leadership from UNI

Briefly describe your career background.
I spent 5 years teaching Industrial Technology in Wisconsin and southern Iowa (Seymour). I moved into administration at Seymour CSD as the Secondary Principal and AD and was there for one year. After that year, I had a chance to move back to Oelwein (hometown) and serve as the HS principal for 12 years. In 2006 I completed my doctorate degree from UNI and was immediately hired as a term instructor in the Ed Leadership department. After one year as a term instructor, I was hired on a tenure-track line as an assistant professor. In 2014 I was promoted to associate professor with tenure. I have been the Principalship Program Coordinator, Dept Head for Educational Leadership and Postsecondary Education Dept before they merged with EPF, and am currently the program coordinator for the International Teacher Leadership program working with graduate students working in overseas schools.

Why did you choose this career path?
After teaching one year in WI, I decided to use my BA degree in another way—manufacturing and industry. After two years with Nestaway Divisions in Chariton, IA, I chose to get back into teaching and coaching and moved to Seymour where I taught 7-12 industrial technology and coached several sports. I wanted to make a larger impact in schools and always enjoyed various leadership positions. Thus, moving into administration seemed like the next step. While serving as a HS principal for 13 years, I continued my education by picking up my superintendent certification and completing my doctorate degree. I always thought I'd move from the principalship into the superintendency, but after completing my doctorate degree and finding out that UNI had an opening in their educational leadership program, I chose to pursue that and things worked out very well! I now get to use my background and experiences as a principal and help train and mentor aspiring administrators.

What brought you to UNI?
Initially, I chose UNI for the strong pre-med program as I thought I wanted to become a chiropractor. After a year of undergrad at UNI, I found that field was not to my liking and chose to move into education. Obviously, UNI's reputation for preparing teachers made that an easy decision. Though I did receive my MS degree from Northwest Missouri State University because I was living and working in southern Iowa at the time, after moving back to Oelwein, it was an easy decision to continue my advanced degrees in educational leadership at UNI.

What's your favorite part about UNI?
I have worked with amazing and dedicated individuals, all of whom have spent years as practitioners. They have mentored and challenged me, and we truly are a family. I have also had continual support from many faculty and colleagues outside of our department, and have always felt supported by the administration. UNI recognizes that quality teaching is the most important attribute for its professors, and I wouldn't want to work in any other type of higher education environment.

What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
That's a tough one. Personally, I am very proud of receiving the Ross A. Nielsen Professional Service Award in 2014. One of our program's core values is to prepare our graduate students to be leaders of service.I always hoped that being a recipient of this award would demonstrate my commitment to service for our students, department, college and university. Other than that, I am proud of our continued strong enrollment, delivery of strong programs that impact thousands of students across Iowa school districts, and the development of the only international teacher leader graduate program in the state.

If involved in research, what is your area(s) of interest, and what drove your interest in this area?
My research has obviously focused on various areas of educational leadership. I have written articles about serving at-risk students, TAG programming, international teacher leadership, and my biggest passion, School Law. I recently completed a manuscript with Dr. Susan Etscheidt focusing on the need to better prepare principals to serve students with disabilities.

What does being student-focused mean to you?
Being student-focused means always remembering that our graduate students are full-time educators, parents, coaches, spouses, etc. We are passionate about the content we deliver, but we strive to always remember that graduate education must strike a balance in the busy lives of our students.

We talk about helping students realize or even exceed their expectations and potential. What does it mean to you to be part of that process and see the outcome?
I just returned from the annual School Administrators Conference. Typically this conference hosts 700+ administrators from across the state, and it brings me great joy to see our former students now serving as administrators and impacting thousands of students. Visiting with them, catching up, and hearing them talk about the awesome work they are doing across the state is heartwarming and always reminds me of why I do what I do and why I love what I get to do!

What do you hope students learn from you?
I really hope they better understand the power of leadership and the awesome responsibility they will have when assuming the various roles in schools. I truly hope that they feel as though every day is an opportunity to impact lives!

What advice do you have for prospective/current students to make the most of their time at UNI?
Take advantage of opportunities to network with professors and cohort colleagues. Specifically, in our programs, we expose our students to many guest speakers that our practitioners across the state. These individuals are extremely well connected and love giving back to future school leaders. It is important that our students take advantage of these opportunities to grow their network and make meaningful connections.