Author Biographies

Author Biographies

Kristine Blair is Professor of English at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where she teaches courses in digital rhetoric and scholarly publication in the Rhetoric and Writing doctoral program. The author of numerous publications on gender and technology, online learning, electronic portfolios, and the politics of technological literacy acquisition, Dr. Blair serves as editor of both Computers and Composition and Computers and Composition Online. In 2007, she received the national Technology Innovator Award from the CCCC, and in 2010, she received the national Charles Moran Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field of Computers and Composition. In 2014, she will begin a two-year term as Chair of the CCCC Consortium of Doctoral Programs in Rhetoric and Composition. Dr. Blair is a member of the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in OWI’s Expert/Stakeholder Panel.

Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Writing Studies at the University of Minnesota, where she is the Director of Undergraduate Studies. She teaches courses in first-year writing, technical communication, computer and online pedagogy, and usability evaluation of online interfaces. Dr. Breuch enjoys conducting research on writers in action and the texts they produce, whether in the workplace, university, or in writing groups. Her research addresses writing theory and pedagogy in composition, technical communication, writing centers, and writing across the curriculum. Dr. Breuch is a member of the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction’s Expert/Stakeholder Panel.

Kevin Eric DePew is an Associate Professor and the Graduate Program Director of Old Dominion University’s English Ph.D. program, which has an online component. He has authored and co-authored works about OWI in Computers and Composition, as well as the Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Communication and Emerging Pedagogies in the Networked Knowledge Society. Dr. DePew’s research about OWI is one component of his larger project of designing better writing instruction. Other works examine how to advocate for social justice through writing instruction, how to raise instructors’ awareness of effective strategies for teaching multilingual writers, and how to design writing curriculum that encourages students to transfer what they learn in their writing courses to other contexts. He is a current member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Christa Ehmann (Senior Vice President & Chief Education Officer of Smarthinking, Inc.–A Pearson Company) is a leader in the development of online tutoring and mentoring in the United States and internationally, having headed the education department of Smarthinking since its founding in 1999. She initially developed the unique protocols and mechanisms for online tutoring, and thereafter implemented the operational systems to manage the growth of Smarthinking, which now tutors hundreds of thousands of students each year. Dr. Ehmann earned her master’s and doctorate degrees from Oxford University and has taught and worked worldwide in the field of online tutoring and education. Involved in various non-profit education organizations, Dr. Ehmann sits on the Washington D.C. board of directors of Learning Ally—a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving individuals equal access to learning by making reading accessible for all K-12, high school, college and graduate students, veterans and lifelong learners with blindness, visual impairment, dyslexia or other learning disabilities through digital recordings and assistive technology devices. She is a past member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Michael W. Gos is a professor at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, where he teaches technical writing, composition, and humanities studies. He received his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from Purdue University. Dr. Gos has served eight years on the executive board and three years as president of the Two-Year College English Association’s Southwest region. He is currently the State of Texas policy analyst for NCTE. His research interests include writing instruction in computer environments, working class students and the difficulties they face negotiating college, and Texas writers and cowboy poets. Dr. Gos is also the author of a Texas-centered philosophy column for Bay Area Houston Magazine. He loves dogs, the outdoors, photography, and writing about Texas. He is a past member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Elif Guler is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Professional Writing at Longwood University, where she teaches courses and conducts research in cultural rhetoric and professional writing. She previously taught both face-to-face and distance education writing courses at Old Dominion University (ODU). She is the recipient of a shining star faculty award from ODU and has co-authored an article on the use of online tools for assessment in the writing classroom.

Heidi Skurat Harris is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where she teaches technical writing, digital rhetoric, grant writing, and rhetorical theory both face-to-face and online. Her primary research interest involves student experiences in and perceptions of online courses, including the relationship between student satisfaction in online courses and the incorporation of principles and effective practices from A Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for OWI. Dr. Harris has presented the results of her research at the CCCC, Distance Learning Administration National Conference, and at the United States Distance Learning Association Conference. Her work appears in the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, The Next Digital Scholar, WAC, and the book Disrupting Pedagogies: Teaching the Knowledge Society. Dr. Harris is a member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction and a past member of the Committee’s Expert/Stakeholder Panel.

Beth L. Hewett is a leading expert in online writing instruction. She has chaired or co-chaired the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction for seven years and remains an active member with special interests in research. She was the initial developer of the OWI program at Smarthinking, Inc., and later redesigned the TutorVista OWI program from the ground up. For seven years she was a co-editor at Kairos, first for CoverWeb and then for the journal as a whole. Her individual publications on online writing include: Reading to Learn and Writing to Teach: Literacy Strategies for Online Writing Instruction (Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2015) and The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors (Heinemann, 2010; updated, Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2015). She has co-edited/co-authored additional publications: Virtual Collaborative Writing in the Workplace: Computer-Mediated Communication Technologies and Processes (IGI Global, 2010), Preparing Educators for Online Writing Instruction: Principles and Processes (NCTE, 2004), and Technology and English Studies: Innovative Career Paths (LEA, 2005). Dr. Hewett is an Educational Consultant and Dissertation Coach who specializes in practical problems of online writing and teaching. She also is a bereavement coach, facilitator, facilitator trainer, and author of the Good Words for Grief book series (WestBow Press, 2014; Grief Illustrated Press, 2010-2013).

Diane Martinez is an assistant professor of professional communication at Western Carolina University. Previously, she worked as a writing specialist in an online writing center and developed and taught online composition and technical writing courses. Dr. Martinez also developed and conducted an online training program to teach faculty and graduate students effective strategies for online teaching and learning. Currently co-chair of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction, she has been a member since 2011 and was a consultant to the Committee from 2009-2010.

Mahli Xuan Mechenbier is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of English at Kent State University: Geauga. She teaches Technical Writing, Business & Professional Writing, and Introduction to LGBT Literature. She is a certified Quality Matters Master Reviewer and APPQMR Facilitator. Her research interests include asynchronous online tone and communication methods; how academic administrations manage and budget distance learning; the unionization of professors; and employment conditions of contingent faculty members. Dr. Mechenbier serves on the MLA Executive Committee of the Discussion Group on Part-Time Faculty Members and the Modern Language Association Liaison Committee for the Association for Business Communication. She was adopted from South Vietnam through Operation Babylift, and she has two cats and one hamster. Dr. Mechenbier is a current member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction and serves on the editorial board for the Online Writing Instruction Open Resource.

Lisa Meloncon is an associate professor of technical and professional communication in the Department of English at the University of Cincinnati and Director of the McMicken Health Research Center in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Meloncon specializes in medical and health communication, programmatic issues in technical and professional communication, and online learning. Her work has appeared in journals such as Technical Communication Quarterly, Technical Communication, and the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. She is editor of Rhetorical Accessibility: At the Intersection of Technical Communication and Disability Studies (2013). She is a current member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Connie Synder Mick is an Associate Special Professional Faculty member at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Mick is Director of Community-Based Learning and Co-Director of the Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor through the Center for Social Concerns. She teaches community-based courses on writing, rhetoric, poverty, gender, and ethical leadership. She presents nationally and publishes on a wide range of topics, such as teaching writing through technology, teaching poverty and privilege through writing, and the development of multiple literacies in English language learners through service-learning and civic engagement. She directed university writing centers for ten years. Dr. Mick has two composition textbooks forthcoming from Oxford University Press: a reader for writers called Poverty/Privilege and a rhetoric and reader on writing for social change called Good Writing. She is a past member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Geoffrey Middlebrook is a Teaching Professor in the Writing Program, Director of the Writing Center, and Distinguished Faculty Fellow in the Center for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Southern California (USC). Dr. Middlebrook has established himself as an authority on writing in digital environments and is the recipient of grants and recognition at USC, including the Provost’s Prize for Teaching with Technology and the Advanced Writing Teaching Award. He presents his work frequently at national conferences, has published in journals and books, and is a past member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Susan Miller-Cochran is Professor of English and Director of First-Year Writing at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on technology, ESL writing, and writing program administration. Her work has appeared in College Composition and Communication, Composition Studies, Computers and Composition, enculturation, and Teaching English in the Two-Year College, and she is an editor of Rhetorically Rethinking Usability (Hampton Press, 2009) and Strategies for Teaching First-Year Composition (NCTE, 2002). Additionally, she is a co-author of The Wadsworth Guide to Research (Cengage, 2014) and Keys for Writers (Cengage, 2014). Before joining the faculty at NC State, Dr. Miller-Cochran was a faculty member at Mesa Community College (AZ). She has served on the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication and the Executive Board of the Council of Writing Program Administrators. She currently serves as Vice President of the Council of Writing Program Administrators. Dr. Miller-Cochran is a past member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Deborah Minter is Associate Professor of English and Associate Dean of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Arts and Sciences with responsibility for undergraduate education. She has served as Coordinator of UNL’s Composition Program and Vice Chair of the English Department. Dr. Minter teaches graduate and undergraduate composition courses in onsite and online classrooms. She co-edited Composition, Pedagogy and the Scholarship of Teaching (Boynton/Cook, 2002) with Amy Goodburn. Her work also has appeared in several edited collections and such journals as College Composition and Communication, Pedagogy, and College English. She is a past member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.

Webster Newbold has been teaching and developing courses in computer-based writing instruction and digital literacy at Ball State University since the 1980s. He has published in Kairos and made numerous conference presentations on teaching FWY in online settings. Dr. Newbold has most recently concentrated on online-only writing instruction in LMS environments, and he was a member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction from 2010 to 2014. He is now retired.

Leslie Olsen is an adjunct English instructor at Excelsior College, teaching composition, business writing, and professional communications online. She received an MA in English from the University of Washington, where her research interests included genre studies, discourse analysis, and writing center pedagogy. She spent eight years as the Writing Center Coordinator at the University of Washington, Bothell campus, before becoming the first Writing Center Coordinator at Capella University, overseeing both face-to-face and online tutoring, as well as developing onsite and online writing centers. She is a current member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction and served on the editorial board for the Online Writing Instruction Open Resource.

Sushil K. Oswal is a Technical Communication and Environmental Studies faculty at the University of Washington, Tacoma, and a faculty of Disability Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. He received the C. R. Anderson Award for the work on his doctoral study of an Environmental Taskforce in a Japanese-owned corporation. As a newly-minted Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati, where he was also a Taft Doctoral Fellow, he led the founding of a Writing Portfolios Program at Middle Tennessee State University. Later, as the director of a Technical Communication program at a private university in Connecticut, he was the winner of a six figure joint grant from the United Technologies Corporation for designing a fully-accessible computer writing lab. Dr. Oswal’s present research focuses on human-centered design and the accessibility of multimodal digital communication (see Communication Design Quarterly, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, and Work: a Journal of Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation). As a member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction since its inception, he has led its accessibility efforts.

Rich Rice is Associate Professor at Texas Tech University where he teaches new media, rhetoric, grant writing, intercultural communication, and composition in the Technical Communication and Rhetoric program. He directs the TTU Department of English Media Lab. Dr. Rice’s most recent book is ePortfolio Performance Support Systems: Constructing, Presenting, and Assessing Portfolios (2013) with Parlor Press and the WAC Clearinghouse. Recent book chapters and journal articles include topics addressing faculty professionalization, intercultural competence, teaching philosophies, mobile medicine, convergence theory, problem-based universal design for learning, photo essays, media labs, and study abroad models. His research seeks to make connections between new media, communication, and teaching. Dr. Rice currently is developing sustainable study abroad models in India. He is a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar, and he is a member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction’s Expert/Stakeholder Panel.

Rochelle (Shelley) Rodrigo is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric & (New) Media at Old Dominion University. She was a full time faculty member for nine years in English and film studies at Mesa Community College in Arizona. Dr. Rodrigo researches how “newer” technologies better facilitate communicative interactions, more specifically teaching and learning. As well as co-authoring the first and second editions of The Wadsworth Guide to Research, she also was co-editor of Rhetorically Rethinking Usability (Hampton Press). Her work also has appeared in Computers and Composition, Teaching English in the Two-Year College, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, The Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy, Flow¸ as well as various edited collections. Dr. Rodrigo is a member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction’s Expert/Stakeholder Panel.

Jason Snart is a Professor of English at College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. His books include Making Hybrids Work (NCTE, forthcoming), Hybrid Learning: The Perils and Promise of Blending Online and Face-to-Face Instruction in Higher Education (Praeger, 2010) and The Torn Book: UnReading William Blake’s Marginalia (Susquehanna University Press, 2006). He currently is working in the areas of curricular, faculty, and administrative development to support effective hybrid learning. His teaching includes writing and literature courses delivered face-to-face, fully online, and in hybrid settings. Dr. Snart, is a member of the CCCC’s Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction’s, leads the editorial board for the Online Writing Instruction Open Resource, and is a past member of the Committee’s Expert/Stakeholder Panel.

Robbin Zeff Warner is a Senior Writing Coach at Defend & Publish, LLC, and an educational consultant in OWI. Previously she was an Assistant Professor of Writing, Professional Technology Fellow, and WID Studio Director at George Washington University (GWU). She also is a Teacher Consultant with the Northern Virginia Writing Project. Dr. Warner’s interest in online technology was launched in writing the landmark book The Nonprofit Guide to the Internet in 1996 when there were so few nonprofits online one could actually count them. This book initiated a series of books on Internet use for the nonprofit community by John Wiley & Sons. She then wrote the first book on online advertising back in 1997 (Advertising on the Internet), which eventually was translated into six languages. Recently, Dr. Warner lived in Brussels, Belgium, for four years where she studied chocolate making; she is now writing novels that showcase artisan chocolate.

Scott Warnock is an associate professor of English at Drexel University and Director of the University Writing Program. He is the author of Teaching Writing Online: How and Why and numerous book chapters and journal articles on a range of writing-related concerns. Dr. Warnock has presented and conducted workshops about teaching and technology issues and opportunities at national conferences and many institutions. He is co-chair of the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction.