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Capella University Announces 2008 Harold Abel Distinguished Faculty Awards
Five faculty members from the online university have received distinguished honors.
MINNEAPOLIS, May 15, 2008 - Capella University (www.capella.edu), an accredited, fully online university, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2008 Harold Abel Distinguished Faculty Awards. The awards are presented to outstanding faculty members from each of the university's five schools.
Capella's School of Education winner is Jackson “Skot” Beazley, faculty member since October 2001 for the Leadership in Educational Administration specialization. He has taught five different courses in the PhD and MS programs, revised and updated three courses in the PhD program, and has authored two master's degree courses. Skot has also mentored 40 Capella learners through completion of their dissertation research and currently is mentor to 30 Capella researchers and is serving on 20 dissertation committees.
Amy Donovan received the award as a core faculty member in Capella's School of Human Services, where she teaches research courses, engages in committee work and mentoring, and reviews student research proposals to Capella University's Institutional Review Board (IRB). She has made significant contributions through the academic steering committee on the revision of the comprehensive examination and dissertation process. Donovan has guided many faculty and learners when submitting applications to IRB during the dissertation stage.
Faculty member Brian Barton accepted the award from Capella's School of Undergraduate Studies. He teaches in areas such as management, e-business, and marketing, and is currently the faculty chair for marketing and capstone courses. Barton has developed and shared innovative techniques and processes for providing complete evaluation information to learners. In 2007, he participated in the Faculty Symposium on teaching excellence, and is contributing to the planning and implementation of the Transparency by Design initiative.
Randy Johnson received the award as Chair of General Psychology for Capella University's Harold Abel School of Psychology. He led the implementation of a responsive and efficient Institutional Review Board process that improved the quality of IRB applications and reduced turnaround time from a month to less than a week. He also chaired the development of an instructional rubric improving communication on written assignments.
Capella's School of Business and Technology winner is faculty member Maudie Holm. She serves as a subject matter expert for the Organization Theory and the new Management Education specializations in the PhD in Organization and Management program. She also mentors PhD learners and manages the MBA coaches for Capella's Professional Effectiveness Coaching process. Holm has published over 20 articles in practitioner journals and has presented fieldwork at national and international conferences.
“I am extremely honored to work with an exceptional community of colleagues who consistently demonstrate our values every day in their work with our learners. Every year it's difficult to select those faculty who are the best of the best at delivering both superior learning outcomes and a superior learning experience,” commented Chris Cassirer, acting president of Capella University. “At Capella we are committed to our learners, learning and our faculty. We continue to select, develop and build a strong faculty community of scholar-practitioners and life-long learners who believe in the potential of our learners. The Harold Abel award winners are indeed distinguished, and Capella University is proud to honor them with this coveted award and recognition."
About the award
The Harold Abel Distinguished Faculty Award is named for the late Dr. Harold Abel, who along with Steve Shank co-founded Capella and served as its first president, as well as chancellor and chair of the University's board of directors. Harold had a 44-year career as an educator. His innovation is depicted in this award, and reflects faculty performance and leadership. These awards have been given each year since 1999. For more information please visit the Harold Abel Distinguished Faculty Award website.
About Capella University
Founded in 1993, Capella University (www.capella.edu) is an accredited*, fully online university that offers graduate degree programs in business, information technology, education, human services, psychology, public health, and public safety, and bachelor's degree programs in business, information technology, and public safety. Within those areas, Capella currently offers 104 graduate and undergraduate specializations and 15 certificate programs. The online university currently serves more than 23,400 students from all 50 states and 45 other countries. It is committed to providing high-caliber academic excellence and pursuing balanced business growth. Capella University is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Capella Education Company, headquartered in Minneapolis. For more information, please visit http://www.capella.edu or call 1-888-CAPELLA (227-3552).
*Capella University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), http://www.ncahlc.org.
Capella University, 225 South Sixth Street, Ninth Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55402, 1.888.CAPELLA (227.3552), www.capella.edu.
Learn more about earning an online degree at Capella University:
online education (http://www.capella.edu/online_education.aspx)
distance learning (http://www.capella.edu/distance_learning.aspx)
online university (http://www.capella.edu/online_university.aspx)
