Year in Review – Our Top 52 of 2018

  • Professional Staff Council, University of Missouri College of Education
  • Faculty from both Universities at celebration
  • Christie Terry, Director of the eMINTS National Center, discusses the details behind two U.S. Department of Education grants.

2018 was a phenomenal year for the MU College of Education! Here are 52 things (+1) that made us proud in 2018—one for every week of the year. Thank you to all of our faculty and professional staff for their hard work, dedication, and commitment. Their impact is significant. We look forward to an incredible 2019! — Dean Kathryn Chval

  1. Nikki Ashcraft received the MU Excellence in Online Class Facilitation Award.
  2. Kelly Benson received the Region 7 National Academic Advising Association Excellence in Advising – Advisory Primary Role Award.
  3. Kathryn Chval received the inaugural Partner in Advancement Leadership Award.
  4. Amalia Dache-Gerbino received the MU Faculty Achievement Award in Diversity and Mizzou’s NAACP Frankie Freeman Faculty of the Year Award.
  5. Zandra de Araujo received the MU Advisors Forum 2018 Faculty Advisor of the Year award.
  6. Lisa Dorner received the UM System President’s Award for Intercampus Collaboration.
  7. Lisa Flores was named the Norman C. Gysbers, Ph.D. Faculty Fellow in Counseling Psychology.
  8. Jeni Hart received the 2018 Innovative Teaching Award from the Association of Public Land-grant Universities.
  9. Francis Huang received the 2018 Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Academic Adviser.
  10. Keith Herman received the 2018 APA Senior Scientist Award.
  11. Laurie Kingsley received the MU Outstanding Online Course Design Award.
  12. Rose Marra was named to the inaugural class of UM Presidential Engagement Fellows.
  13. Pilar Mendoza received the 2018 International Engagement Award.
  14. Joi Moore received the Association for Educational Communications and Technology’s 2018 McJulien Scholar Best Paper Award.
  15. Heather Moulaison-Sandy received the 2018 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology and the 2018 National Digital Stewardship Alliance Innovation award for Educators.
  16. Leigh Neier was named one of the Columbia Business Times 20 under 40.
  17. Sam Otten received the MU Writing Intensive Teaching Excellence Award.
  18. Rachel Pinnow and Nikki Ashcraft were recognized with the 2018 UPCEA Central Region Outstanding Noncredit Program Award, Missouri K-12 TESOL Certification Preparation.
  19. Tamara Regan received the 2018 MU Barbara S. Uehling Award for Administrative Excellence.
  20. Wendy Reinke received the 2018 APA Tom Oakland Mid-Career Scholar Award.
  21. Amy Ruopp received the MU Office of Graduate Studies 2018 Postdoctoral Teaching Award.
  22. Johannes Strobel received the 2018 Academy of Science-St. Louis Science Educator Award and the 2018 STEM Excellence Award from the International Society for Technology in Education.
  23. Kathy Unrath received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
  24. Beth Whitaker received the College of Education Golden Apple Award.
  25. Wolfgang Wiedermann received the MU Department of Statistics Winemiller Excellence Award.
  26. Xinhao Xu received a Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Award. 
  27. Angie Zapata was the inaugural recipient of the Veralee B. Hardin Faculty Enhancement Award.
  28. Kim Duncan, Emily Kebert, Chunyan Li, Aaron Moss, Kim Nuetzmann, Brittany Smotherson, Jackie Schneller, Bob Simpson, Jude Sommerjones, Megan Wilkinson, and Jessica White were the 2018 Porter-Graham Staff Excellence Award Recipients.
  29. The College welcomed Jason Alston, Casey Clay, Lisa Goran, Shannon McClain, Danielle Oprean, Sarah Owens and Rob Petrone as new faculty members.
  30. The College welcomed 35 new full-time staff members.
  31. The following faculty were promoted: Professor – David Bergin; Clinical Professor –Andy Knoop; Associate Professor –Emily Crawford Rossi, Zandra de Araujo, Francis Huang, LaGarrett King, Sam Otten, James Sebastian; Associate Professor of Teaching –Nikki Ashcraft, Jennifer Fellabaum-Toston.
  32. The College celebrated its 150th anniversary, including a Townsend Hall Banner, a timeline, and a full page ad in the Columbia Missourian special homecoming edition.
  33. The College honored 19 award recipients at the 50th Annual Awards Banquet.
  34. Success Files with Rob Lowe featured FACE of Boone County and Mizzou K-12, and a commercial aired in 51 million homes.
  35. eMINTS received the largest grant in the history of the College.
  36. The MU Partnership for Educational Renewal grew to a total of 24 school districts.
  37. The Hook Center continued to work with partners around the nation to develop a robust data gathering, aggregating, management, and reporting system for Missouri and its school districts.
  38. The Applied Behavioral Analysis Program moved to the Department of Special Education.
  39. LaGarrett King and Ashley Woodson hosted the inaugural Teaching Black History Conference.
  40. The 50th anniversary of the Department of Special Education was celebrated with a tree donation and dedication.
  41. The Mizzou Ed Exchange, a resource for students who may be experiencing temporary food insecurity and other emergency needs, opened in the Reflector.
  42. MO-SWPBS received a $4.25M grant, and when completed, will have 25 years of continuous federal funding.
  43. The College was recognized as the 2018 College Colors Day Best Dressed Group for the second year in a row.
  44. The College established a partnership with the UNIMINUTO  University System in South America.
  45. Mizzou K-12 signed agreements to provide educational opportunities to two private schools, 11 learning centers and one curriculum provider in Vietnam.
  46. The College’s US News and World Report 2018 Best Online Programs rankings jumped from 61 to 36 (from top 31% to top 12%). The College was ranked No. 2 on The Best Schools “The 30 Best Online Master’s in Gifted & Talented Education Programs” list.
  47. Pre-ETS sponsored The Missouri Youth Leadership Forum, a unique career leadership-training program for students with disabilities. Pre-ETS served 7,823 students in 540 schools in 2017-18.
  48. The Office of Global Engagement reported 92 international students from 43 countries in the Fall 2018 semester.
  49. A total of 494 graduate degrees and 253 bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 2018. Mizzou K-12 awarded high school diplomas to 671 students.
  50. ParentLink received $1.1 million from Missouri Foundation for Health to help parents understand the health care system and navigate service provider networks.
  51. Heart of Missouri RPDC professional development registrations increased 56% from July-Oct 2017 to July-Oct 2018.
  52. In partnership with The Connector, the Assessment Resource Center’s BINDERS evaluation tool is active on all four University of Missouri campuses and launched at Michigan State University.
  53. The College of Education’s Advancement Team was the first on campus to reach the “Our Time to Lead” campaign goal.